Screening Cognition in the Elderly with Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

We found that subjects with metabolic syndrome have lower MMSE scores than those without, even without symptomatic cognitive impairment, and that the number of metabolic abnormalities is independently associated to lower MMSE scores. We suggest that these patients should always undergo cognitive screening to prevent more severe outcomes.

Is There an Association Between Metabolic Syndrome and Cognitive Function in Very Old Adults? The Newcastle 85+ Study

“…The current investigation of the individual MetS components identified a cross‐sectional association between high blood pressure and better performance on sustained attention, episodic memory, and global cognition at baseline. This conflicts with other studies that have reported a greater risk of cognitive impairment in individuals with hypertension, although age may be an effect modifier, because these studies were conducted in younger populations. A study examining blood pressure and cognitive function over a wide age range found high blood pressure to be associated with greater risk of cognitive impairment in individuals younger than 75, but high blood pressure was associated with better cognitive function in older participants, and this association was strongest in those aged 85 and older .…”

“…There was a high prevalence of high blood pressure according to the NCEP ATP III criteria in this cohort (94.4%), which demonstrates the difficulty in discriminating between individuals when applying the current definition of MetS to this age group, but modifying criteria to use less‐strict cutoffs did not change the results. In contrast, low HDL‐C was associated with lower MMSE scores at baseline, consistent with previous studies that have reported that lower HDL‐C is associated with greater risk of cognitive impairment . The Leiden 85+ Study found an association between low HDL‐C and lower baseline MMSE scores but, similar to the current study, did not find a longitudinal effect…”

“…An association has been observed between MetS and dementia, including preclinical dementia, but few studies have examined the link between MetS and cognitive function more generally, although cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between MetS and poor cognitive function have been found . In young‐old adults (<75), each of the individual diagnostic components of MetS has also been associated with greater risk of cognitive impairment, although whether the association between poor cognitive function and MetS is greater than the sum of its individual diagnostic components is still unclear …”

“…1 An association has been observed between MetS and dementia, including preclinical dementia, 2 but few studies have examined the link between MetS and cognitive function more generally, although cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between MetS and poor cognitive function have been found. [3][4][5][6] In young-old adults (<75), each of the individual diagnostic components of MetS has also been associated with greater risk of cognitive impairment, 7 although whether the association between poor cognitive function and MetS is greater than the sum of its individual diagnostic components is still unclear. 3,5 The one other longitudinal study, the Leiden 85+ Study, 8 that has explored the association between MetS and cognitive decline in very old adults (≥85) found that participants with MetS had a slower rate of cognitive decline than those without MetS, but because of data restrictions, that study used a modified version of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria.…”

Factors affecting aging cognitive function among community‐dwelling older adults

“…Many recent studies have reported that unhealthy lifestyle behaviours and cardio-metabolic risk factors (eg, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases) are positively associated with cognitive impairment (Komulainen et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2013;Parnowski & Kaluza, 2013;Viscogliosi et al, 2012) and dementia (eg, Alzheimer's disease) (Hildreth, Grigsby, Bryant, Wolfe, & Baxter, 2014). Elderly individuals with metabolic syndrome show a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment than do those without metabolic syndrome (Panza et al, 2011).…”