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Faster cognitive decline linked to history of diabetes, elevated LDL
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Patients with Alzheimer’s disease who also have a history of diabetes and elevated LDL levels are likely to experience faster cognitive decline, according to new study data. These findings add further evidence to the role of vascular risk factors in the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
A cohort of 156 older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (mean age at diagnosis, 83 years) were followed for a mean of 3.5 years. All were participants in the Washington Heights/Inwood Columbia Aging Project, a 10-year multiethnic, prospective, epidemiological study of cognitive aging and dementia.
Follow-up revealed that history of diabetes, higher LDL and total cholesterol levels were associated with faster cognitive decline. Patients with history of diabetes had an additional 0.05 decrease (SD) in cognitive score per year (P=.05). The researchers also reported a 0.10 decrease (SD) with each 10-unit increase in LDL and total cholesterol per year (P<.001 for total cholesterol; P=.001 for LDL).
Decline in cognitive function was not associated with HDL and triglyceride concentrations.
History of heart disease and stroke were associated with cognitive decline only in carriers of the apolipoprotein E e4 gene, which has been implicated in late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
“These findings indicate that controlling vascular conditions may be one way to delay the course of Alzheimer’s, which would be a major development in the treatment of this devastating disease, as currently there are few treatments available to slow its progression,” Yaakov Stern, PhD, professor at Columbia University’s Taub Institute for the Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, said in a press release.
Helzner EP. Arch Neurol. 2009;66:343-348.