The value of staying healthy to avoid major medical complications was recently confirmed in a series of articles published by the medical journal, ‘Archives of Neurology.’  Two recent studies have linked metabolic disorders, including diabetes and heart disease, to an increased risk of age-related mental decline, according to the publication.

Metabolic syndrome involves a cluster of symptoms that signal a heightened risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.  While no individual risk factor identifies metabolic syndrome, anyone with several of them, including excess abdominal fat, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL cholesterol) levels, and high blood pressure (hypertension) is strongly advised to modify any behaviors that contribute to them to minimize the risk of developing life-threatening conditions.  Now age-related dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, has been added to that list of potential tragic outcomes.

Dr. Kristine Yaffe led colleagues at the University of California-San Francisco and the city’s Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center through a study of 4,895 women exhibiting no memory or cognitive impairments when enrolled in the study.  The women were an average of 66 years old when the four-year study began and almost 500 of them had metabolic syndrome.

During the four years of follow-up study, 36% of the women with metabolic syndrome developed problems with cognitive function but only 4% of the remaining study participants, free of metabolic syndrome, developed similar cognitive issues.  The research team has expressed interest in further study to determine if behavior modifications might reduce risk of mental decline.

At the Columbia University Medical Center, Yaakov Stern and his team compared cholesterol levels to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in 156 diabetics who were followed over a ten-year period.  About three and one-half years into the study, patients with high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL cholesterol) were experiencing mental decline at a rate significantly faster than those with normal cholesterol levels.

Previous studies show a reduced risk of developing dementia in patients who take statin drugs to maintain healthy cholesterol levels and diabetics able to maintain healthy control of insulin levels enjoy a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than those who struggle with their insulin regulation.

While various forms exist, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of age-related dementia, affecting 5.2 million Americans and 26 million people worldwide.  With no current means of curing it, the best a patient can hope for is delaying the onset or progression of symptoms.