We know that adult brain function is dependent on several factors - diet, exercise, social interactions, and mental challenges being key to sustained cognitive health. However, it now seems that heart health in post-adolescent years plays a substantial role in maintaining mental function in later life, with a new study suggesting that sound cardiovascular health leads to improved brain facility.
The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study was conducted over a span of 25 years, starting in 1985. Looking at a group of 3,381 18-30 year olds (at the start of the study), researchers took measurements of their blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels every two to five years. The measurements were taken after the participants underwent a fasting period. Then, at the end of the 25 years, the participants underwent three cognitive function tests - brain aging, decision processing speed, and memory/learning.
Those with higher levels of blood glucose and blood pressure in the earlier phases of the study were generally found to perform in the lower brackets of the brain function tests at the end of the study. Additionally, those with higher levels of cholesterol in their younger years saw lagging results in the learning and memory tests, though the cholesterol content didn't impede their performance on the decision speed or brain aging tests.
"We know these risk factors are important later in life but what is new is that they seem to be important for cognitive health even going from young to mid adulthood," said lead author Dr. Kristine Yaffe of the University of California, San Francisco, in an email to Reuters. "This is the first time anyone has shown this."
She continued: "Our study is hopeful, because it tells us we could maybe make a dent in the risks of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia by emphasizing the importance of controlling risk factors among younger people."
Yaffe and her team believe that targeting and treating cardiovascular risk factors throughout youth and adulthood wouldn't simply improve heart health, but indeed brain health.
The study was published in Circulation on March 31 2014.
