Brain health could decline in men with heart disease risk a decade sooner than women, study finds

New Delhi: Men with risk factors for heart disease, such as obesity and high blood pressure, could face a decline in brain health about a decade earlier, compared to women with similar risks, according to a study.

Men were found to be most susceptible to brain shrinkage -- known to occur with age and commonly seen Alzheimer patients -- between the ages of 55 and 74, while women most susceptible between the ages of 65 and 74.

Researchers from Imperial College London, UK, also found that the brain regions most vulnerable to damage due to heart disease risk factors were those involved in processing what is heard and seen, along with those processing emotions and memory.

The findings, published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, highlighted that "the importance of aggressively targeting cardiovascular risk factors before the age of 55 years to prevent neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's disease, in addition to the benefit of preventing other cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke".

Further, the link between heart disease risk factors and brain shrinkage was found to be independent of whether or not an individual carried the APOE ε4 gene, which is known to heighten one's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

While it is known that risk factors of heart disease can increase risk of dementia, the researchers said that it is not clear what age is the best time to intervene with appropriate treatment to stave off the risk of neurodegeneration.

Data of over 34,400 individuals from the UK Biobank were analysed, all of whom had both abdominal and brain scans, and were aged on average 63 years.

The results showed that higher levels of abdominal fat and visceral adipose tissue (fat on organs in abdomen) were associated with a lower volume of the brain's grey matter in both men and women.

"The strongest influence of cardiovascular risk and obesity on reduced brain volume was between 55-64 years of age in males, whereas women were most susceptible to the detrimental effects of cardiovascular risk a decade later between 65-74 years of age," the authors wrote.

Possible biological processes for the brain damage due to cardiovascular risk factors include inflammation, central leptin (hormone that regulates body weight and energy) and insulin resistance, as well as the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, known to protect the brain from harmful substances and germs.