Obesity, diabetes may raise dementia risk 10 years earlier in men, according to a study

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Men with cardiovascular disease risk factors such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and smoking may have brain health decline, leading to dementia, 10 years earlier than women, finds a study on Wednesday.

The findings of a long-term study, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, showed that men with cardiovascular disease risk factors can have dementia onset a decade earlier -- from their mid-50s to mid-70s -- than similarly affected women who are most susceptible from their mid-60s to mid-70s.

Researchers from Imperial College London, UK found that the most vulnerable regions of the brain are those involved in processing auditory information, aspects of visual perception, emotional processing, and memory. They noted that the damaging effects are just as evident in those who didn't carry the high-risk APOE4 gene -- a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease -- as those who did.

"The detrimental impact of cardiovascular risk was widespread throughout cortical regions, highlighting how cardiovascular risk can impair a range of cognitive functions," said the researchers.

The study included 34,425 participants from the UK Biobank all of whom had had both abdominal and brain scans. Their average age was 63, but ranged from 45 to 82.

The results showed that both men and women with increased levels of abdominal fat and visceral adipose tissue had lower brain grey matter volume.

High cardiovascular risk and obesity led to a gradual loss of brain volume over several decades, said the researchers.

The team thus stressed the need to target "modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity," to treat or prevent neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's.

The study also emphasises "the importance of aggressively targeting cardiovascular risk factors before the age of 55 years to prevent neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's disease". These may also prevent other cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction [heart attack] and stroke".

While the study is observational and no firm conclusions can be drawn, targeting cardiovascular risk and obesity early may be crucial.

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