Smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity related to narrowing of the brain

EDINBURGH: A new British study has shown that factors related to unhealthy lifestyle, such as smoking, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, also seemed to be linked to a brain in poor health.

Led by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, this new study examined brain MRI scans of 9,772 people aged 44 to 79 in the UK Biobank study – a large, long-term study that included genomic data. covering more than half a million British residents as well as data on brain imaging, their general health and medical information.

The researchers investigated the possible link between seven vascular risk factors – risk factors that affect the health of our blood vessels – and any changes in the structure of certain parts of the brain.

The vascular risk factors included smoking, high blood pressure, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, waist / hip ratio, and obesity, measured by high blood pressure. body mass index (BMI).

All were previously linked to problems with the supply of blood to the brain, which can potentially lead to a reduction in blood flow to the brain and brain changes seen in dementia.

The findings, published in the European Heart Journal, showed that all other vascular risk factors, with the exception of a high cholesterol level, were related to greater narrowing of the brain, a decrease in the gray matter and a less healthy white substance.

In addition, the more vascular risk factors a person exhibited, the worse their brain health deteriorated.

"We found that a higher vascular risk is related to poorer brain structure, even in otherwise healthy adults. These links were equally strong for people of average age as for those of later in life, and the addition of each risk factor increased the size of the association with a deterioration in brain health, "said principal investigator Simon Cox.

"It is important to note that associations between risk factors and brain health and structure were not evenly distributed throughout the brain. the affected areas were primarily related to our more complex reasoning abilities and those showing changes in dementia and the "typical Alzheimer's disease". "

Cox added that the findings suggest that lifestyle changes aimed at improving these vascular risk factors could also have an effect on cognitive aging and the risk of dementia.

"Lifestyle factors are much easier to change than things like your genetic code, which both seem to affect vulnerability to cerebral and cognitive aging.

"Because we found that associations were as strong in the middle of life as they were later, it suggests that addressing these factors quickly could mitigate future negative effects. These findings could provide additional motivation for improving vascular health beyond the respiratory and cardiovascular benefits. "