Mid-life cholesterol dip may signal mental decline
Last Updated Aug 2007
Last Updated: 2007-03-16 11:15:31 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While a high total cholesterol level in middle age is a
risk factor for developing dementia later in life, a drop in cholesterol after
middle age may also be a sign of later cognitive problems, a study shows.
It hints that falling total cholesterol levels after middle age may point to an
ongoing disease processes in the brain, and could be a marker for risk of late-life
cognitive impairment.
Dr. Miia Kivipelto from the Aging Research Center at the Karolinska Institute in
Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues investigated changes in total cholesterol levels
in relation to cognitive functioning in late life.
The study involved some 2,000 people who had their cholesterol level measured in
midlife and were re-examined an average of 21 years later.
The team focused on 70 people who developed mild cognitive impairment during follow-
up, 48 who developed Alzheimer's disease and a "control" group of 1,203 people who
remained mentally intact.
"Mid-life total cholesterol represented a risk factor for more severe cognitive
impairment later in life," the researchers found, with significant differences
between the controls, those with mild cognitive impairment, and those with dementia.
On the other hand, a moderate drop in total cholesterol from mid-life to late-
life "was significantly associated with the risk of a more impaired late-life
cognitive status," the investigators report in the medical journal Neurology.
These findings remained unchanged after adjusting for factors that might influence
brain function, including age, sex, education and even the presence APOE-4 gene,
which is known to predispose people to develop Alzheimer's disease.
Kivipelto and colleagues believe that declining cholesterol after middle age
may "reflect ongoing pathological processes in the brain." Nonetheless, they say
the relationship between cholesterol and dementia is "controversial," and
meanwhile, they point out, high cholesterol "carries risk even in old age, and
results from clinical trials in vascular diseases support the benefit of lipid-
lowering treatment in elderly patients."
SOURCE: Neurology, March 6, 2007.
Dr. Sears Comment
This should be word of warning to promoters of statins. The brain needs a constant
source of cholesterol for insulating the nerve fibers. Reduce the cholesterol
levels too much, and it is like stripping the insulation of the wires in your
electrical system. Not surprisingly, the most common complaint about statins is the
loss of memory. What is the good of living longer, if the brain isn't functioning
well? The solution to reducing heart disease and improving mental cognition at the
same time is the use of high-dose fish oils.