Gaby
Have you turned 40 and find yourself noticing memory lapses? Take a moment to reflect on the lifestyle you led in your younger years. If, in your 20s, you smoked, drank, skipped exercise, slept little, ate unhealthy food, and felt stressed often, it’s no surprise.
That’s the conclusion of a team from the University of California, San Francisco, which examined how an unhealthy lifestyle affects cognition in middle age. Sure, in those carefree years it’s tempting to indulge—especially in habits that harm your health. But decades later, a free-spirited lifestyle can take a toll on the brain. The researchers found that people who followed unhealthy habits in youth performed significantly worse on cognitive tests than those who stuck to healthier routines.
How the Study Was Conducted
We expect cognitive abilities to decline with age. But in middle age, it’s still early to see symptoms of dementia and its most severe form, Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Kristine Yaffe, the study’s lead author and an expert in dementia and cognitive aging, said, “Inflammation plays a crucial role in cognitive aging, which can manifest as early as young adulthood.” She clarified that by young adulthood she means ages 20 to 40. She added that inflammation affects cognitive function both directly and indirectly.
The researchers analyzed data from more than 2,300 American adults who were 18 to 30 at the start. Over 18 years of follow-up, each participant had blood tests for C-reactive protein (CRP)—a key marker of inflammation—four times. Five years after the last CRP measurement, participants completed cognitive tests. By then, most were in their 40s and 50s, according to the Daily Mail.
The researchers found that only 10 percent of people who had low inflammation levels at age 20 performed poorly on tests of processing speed and memory.
In contrast, among those who showed moderate or high inflammation in their youth, 21 and 19 percent performed poorly, respectively.
“From long-term studies, we know that changes in the brain leading to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can develop over decades,” said co-author Amber Bachorik, a psychiatrist and expert in cognitive function.
“We aimed to determine whether health and lifestyle in early adulthood could influence cognitive skills in middle age and increase the likelihood of developing dementia later in life,” she added. Ultimately, the team found a connection.
The study’s results were published in the journal Neurology.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 55 million people worldwide live with dementia. WHO projects that number will reach 78 million by 2030 and 139 million by 2050. Approximately 60 to 70 percent of dementia cases are caused by Alzheimer’s disease. Experts are alarmed because deaths from Alzheimer’s continue to rise worldwide.
