A new study finds that inflammation in young adulthood, is associated with reduced cognitive function in midlife.
Researchers discovered that inflammation due to factors like obesity and smoking can impact memory and processing speed.
This link, previously noted in older adults, now extends to early adulthood, suggesting long-term brain health effects.
Reducing inflammation through lifestyle changes may help prevent cognitive decline.
Preventive Measures: Physical activity and quitting smoking can reduce inflammation and potentially prevent cognitive decline.
Young adults who have higher levels of inflammation, which is associated with
obesity,
physical inactivity,
chronic illness,
stress and
smoking,
may experience reduced cognitive function in midlife.
A link between inflammation and health risks
Researchers previously linked higher inflammation in older adults to dementia, but this is one of the first studies to connect inflammation in early adulthood with lower cognitive abilities in midlife.
The researchers also linked higher levels of inflammation with physical inactivity, higher BMI and current smoking.
“We wanted to see if health and lifestyle habits in early adulthood may play a part in cognitive skills in midlife, which in turn may influence the likelihood of dementia in later life.”
Researchers found that
only 10% of those with low inflammation
performed poorly on testing of processing speed and memory, compared to
21% and 19%, respectively, of those with either moderate or higher levels of inflammation.
When researchers adjusted for factors like age, physical activity and total cholesterol, disparities remained in processing speed; and the researchers also found differences in executive functioning, which includes working memory, problem solving and impulse control.
The study followed 2,364 adults in the CARDIA study, which aims to identify the factors in young adulthood that lead to cardiovascular disease two-to-three decades later.
Participants were 18 to 30 years old when they entered the study and were tested four times over an 18-year period for the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP). They took the cognitive tests five years after their last CRP measurement, by which time most participants were in their forties and fifties. About half the participants were female; a little under half were Black, and the rest were white.
Some 45% had lower stable inflammation, while 16% had moderate or increasing inflammation; 39% had higher levels.
The researchers also linked higher levels of inflammation with physical inactivity, higher BMI and current smoking.
Researchers looked at the association in midlife between fragmented sleep and lower cognition and the effects of personalized health and lifestyle changes in preventing memory loss in higher-risk older adults.
There are ways to reduce inflammation – such as by increasing physical activity and quitting smoking.
