Age dependency of risk factors for cognitive decline

Abstract

BackgroundRisk factors for cognitive decline might depend on chronological age. The aim of the study was to explore the age dependency of risk factors for cognitive decline in cognitively healthy subjects aged 55–85 years at baseline.MethodsWe included 2527 cognitively healthy subjects from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). Median follow-up was 9.1 (IQR: 3.2–19.0) years. The association of genetic and cardiovascular risk factors, depressive symptoms, inflammation markers and lifestyle risk factors with decline in MMSE and memory function was tested using spline regression analyses.ResultsSubjects were on average 70.1 (SD 8.8) years old at baseline. Based on a spline regression model, we divided our sample in three age groups: ≤70 years (young-old), > 70–80 years (old) and > 80 years (oldest-old). The association of LDL cholesterol, homocysteine, hypertension, history of stroke, depressive symptoms, interleukin-6, a1-antichymotrypsin, alcohol use and smoking with cognitive decline significantly differed between the age groups. In general, the presence of these risk factors was associated with less cognitive decline in the oldest-old group compared to the young-old and old group.ConclusionsThe negative effect of various risk factors on cognitive decline decreases with higher age. A combination of epidemiological factors, such as the selection towards healthier subjects during follow-up, but also risk factor specific features, for example ensuring the cerebral blood flow in case of hypertension, explain this diminished association at higher age. It is important to take these age differences into account when applying preventive strategies to avert cognitive decline.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-018-0876-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Association of anthropometry and weight change with risk of dementia and its major subtypes: A meta‐analysis consisting 2.8 million adults with 57 294 cases of dementia

“…Distinguishing between possible dementia subtypes in any analysis with measures of body size may, therefore, prove informative in explaining some of the observed heterogeneity. Further, whether sex differences exist, or if the association between body size and dementia risk differs in middle and later life remains unclear …”

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“…Among ARCD, declines in memory, executive functioning, attentional capacities, and processing speed are the most serious brain-health concerns for the elderly [4,5]. The etiology of these age-associated cognitive losses is complex and multifactorial [6][7][8]. One set of ARCD's factors seems related to oxidative stress, leading to neuroinflammatory process in neuronal cells [7].…”

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