Newswise - Older people with larger waistlines, high blood pressure and
other risk factors that make up metabolic syndrome may be at a higher risk
for memory loss, according to a study published in the February 2, 2011,
online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of
Neurology.
Metabolic syndrome was defined as having three or more of the following risk
factors: high blood pressure, excess belly fat, higher than normal
triglycerides (a type of fat found in the blood), high blood sugar and low
high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or "good" cholesterol. Metabolic
syndrome has also been tied to increased risk of heart attack.
For the study, 7,087 people age 65 and older from three French cities were
tested for metabolic syndrome. A total of 16 percent of the participants had
metabolic syndrome. Participants were given a series of memory and cognitive
function tests two and four years later. The tests included a memory test, a
test of visual working memory and a test of word fluency.
Researchers found that people who had metabolic syndrome were 20 percent
more likely to have cognitive decline on the memory test than those who did
not have metabolic syndrome. Those with metabolic syndrome also were 13
percent more likely to have cognitive decline on the visual working memory
test compared to those who did not have the syndrome. Specifically, higher
triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol were linked to poorer memory scores;
diabetes, but not higher fasting blood sugar, was linked to poorer visual
working memory and word fluency scores.
"Our study sheds new light on how metabolic syndrome and the individual
factors of the disease may affect cognitive health," said study author
Christelle Raffaitin, MD, of the French National Institute of Health
Research in Bordeaux, France. "Our results suggest that management of
metabolic syndrome may help slow down age-related memory loss, or delay the
onset of dementia."