Doctors know that high cholesterol brings increased risk of heart disease, and what’s worrisome is the finding about the dangers of even borderline cholesterol that comes from a new study that’s one of the largest and longest dementia trials ever conducted. Could there be a link between cholesterol and Alzheimer’s Disease?
Adults in their mid 40s with even slightly elevated cholesterol (as well as those with high cholesterol) appear to have a greater risk for Alzheimer’s disease or related conditions like vascular dementia years later.
Researchers followed over 9,800 northern California residents who were part of the same health insurance plan during the study. The researchers didn’t have information on HDL (good) and LDL (bad) cholesterol because these weren’t widely understood when the study began in the early 1960s.
Still, if total cholesterol is high, it’s logical to assume that levels of the bad cholesterol must also be high since two thirds of the total comes from the LDL (bad) type. The team looked at the total cholesterol levels of participants between 1964 and 1973 when the subjects were between 40-45 years old.
By the end of the research, almost 600 of the subjects had developed either Alzheimer’s disease (469 subjects) or a related condition (vascular dementia in 127 subjects) when they were in their 60s, 70s and 80s.
Subjects with total cholesterol in the high range (240 or higher) at the start of the study had a 66% increase in Alzheimer’s risk. Borderline high cholesterol (levels between 200-239) brought a 52% increased risk of vascular dementia but no statistically significant risk of Alzheimer’s.
“People tend to think of the brain and the heart as totally separate, but they are not,” says study co-author Rachel A. Whitmer, PhD of Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California. “We are learning that what is good for the heart is also good for the brain – and that midlife is not too soon to be thinking about risk factors for dementia.”
This work adds to the growing evidence that controlling your risk factors for heart disease as well as keeping a handle on your weight in midlife can protect the brain as you age. “Keeping your weight down, eating right, and getting regular exercise can keep your heart healthy as you age, and it may also keep your brain sharp,” adds lead author Alina Solomon of the University of Kuopio.
Recent estimates have 2.4 to 4.5 million Americans living with the terribly destructive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, an irreversible and progressive disease that destroys thinking and memory, leaving patients without the ability to do everyday things like cooking, dressing, driving a car, making decisions.
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Even Slightly High Cholesterol Could Raise Risk Of Alzheimer’s Continued…
As yet, science doesn’t know what sets off the Alzheimer’s process, though experts think the damage starts 10 to 20 years before any mental symptoms appear, and this latest work seems to support the silent progression of this disease.
If you have high cholesterol, start by talking to your doctor to get updated cholesterol numbers and learn what you can do to take control of your diet, be more active. Also, if necessary medication can help bring your numbers under control.
Being aware of the link between cholesterol and Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as following actions might not just help your health today, but it may also contribute to your future brain health as well.
