Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — A new study shows that high cholesterol and blood sugar in your thirties may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease decades later.
“We have shown for the first time that the association between cholesterol and glucose levels and future risk of Alzheimer’s disease extends much earlier than previously thought,” senior study author Lindsey Farrer, chair of Boston University’s Department of Biomedical Genetics in Biomedical Genetics, told CNN.
Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at the Center for Brain Health at Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study, said: “This study gives us more fuel for the fires we need to start fighting Alzheimer’s sooner. Maybe”.
A type of cholesterol and blood sugar
The study found that people aged 35 to 50 who had higher levels of triglycerides, a type of cholesterol found in the blood, and lower levels of “good cholesterol” called high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease later on. from life.
“In the early age group (35-50 years) only, an increase of 15 milligrams per deciliter of triglycerides was associated with an approximate 5% increase in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” Farrer explained by email.
He noted that the association did not appear for older age groups, perhaps because older people are treated for cholesterol more.
“This could reflect that high triglycerides in early adulthood may trigger a cascade of metabolic events that, over time, initiate processes that directly lead to Alzheimer’s disease,” Farrer said.
According to the study, it was higher blood sugar levels in people between the ages of 51 and 60 that increased the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Farrer noted that for every 15 points in which blood sugar rises, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increases by 14.5% in later life.
High cholesterol may not cause Alzheimer’s disease, but it does stimulate cognitive decline, Isaacson said.
“There is also a relationship between diabetes and the development of amyloidosis,” he added.
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is beta-amyloid plaques in the brain, along with tangles of a protein called tau.
“Like any chronic disease of aging — high cholesterol, heart attacks, strokes — it all begins in silence decades before it appears,” Isaacson said.
“Alzheimer’s disease is no different,” he continued. “Targeting it early is the best recipe for optimal brain health as we age.”
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, followed up on people enrolled in the Farmingham Heart Study, a government-backed study in its 74th year.
Farrer noted that the study is unique to the large sample of individuals that are screened every four years or so, starting at age 35, and are followed up at the age at which an Alzheimer’s diagnosis may occur.
And there was some good news from the study, for example, people between the ages of 35 and 50 could reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 15.4% if they raised HDL, by 15 milligrams per deciliter.
And after they raised their HDL levels, people between the ages of 51 and 60 reduced their risk of developing Alzheimer’s by 17.9%.
HDL is called “good cholesterol” because it collects bad substances floating in the bloodstream and takes them to the liver, where they are expelled from the body.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that high levels of high-density lipoprotein can protect against heart disease and stroke.
HDL levels should be at least 40 milligrams per deciliter for men and 50 milligrams per deciliter for women, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
For people who want to treat their cholesterol, Isaacson said they should work carefully with a preventive cardiologist and neurologist, as there are many nuances in how blood lipids are measured and which medications are best.
Farrer said the lesson is that people in their 30s and early 40s need to have their blood lipids measured, as this is the only way they will detect any health problems, adding, “This study should encourage people to get regular checkups at that time.” from life.