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Elevated Midlife Lipids and Cognitive Decline
Alzheimers Dement; ePub 2017 Sep 12; Power, et al
Elevated total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides in midlife were associated with greater 20-year cognitive decline, according to a recent study. Researchers quantified the association between measured serum lipids in midlife and subsequent 20-year change in performance on 3 cognitive tests in 13,997 participants of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. They found:
- Elevated total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were associated with greater 20-year decline on a test of executive function, sustained attention, and processing speed.
- Higher total cholesterol and triglycerides were also associated with greater 20-year decline in memory scores and a measure summarizing performance on all 3 tests.
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol was not associated with cognitive change.
Power MC, Rawlings A, Sharrett AR, et al. Association of midlife lipids with 20-year cognitive change: A cohort study. [Published online ahead of print September 12, 2017]. Alzheimers Dement. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2017.07.757.