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Metabolic syndrome tied to cognitive impairments in adolescents
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Metabolic syndrome was associated with decreased reading ability, working memory and attention span in adolescents, an analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III found.
“Many studies have associated metabolic syndrome with Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders in the elderly population,” Muni Rubens, MD, MPH, PhD, of the department of health promotion and disease prevention at Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Boca Raton, Florida, and colleagues wrote. “However, to our knowledge, only one study researched the relationships between metabolic syndrome and functional and structural central nervous system impairment in adolescents. In addition, large-scale population-based studies exploring associations between metabolic syndrome and cognitive impairments in children and adolescents are lacking.”
The researchers analyzed data from 1,170 adolescents aged 12 to 16 years who were assessed for both metabolic syndrome and cognitive function in the NHANES III study. NHANES III, which was conducted between 1988 and 1994, consisted of a national survey of 33,994 participants aged 2 months and older. Primary outcomes included cognitive function as measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised and the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised. Rubens and colleagues used a linear regression model to assess the associations between cognitive and metabolic function.
Fifty percent of participants were male and 66.8% were white. More than one quarter (28.8%) were in the lowest poverty-income ratio category, and 25.6% came from families with education levels below high school graduation. Weighted prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 10.4%. The researchers reported that patients with metabolic syndrome were more likely to be white, overweight and have higher levels of C-reactive protein.
Rubens and colleagues reported that participants with metabolic syndrome had a mean reading examination score 1.25 points lower than that of participants who did not have metabolic syndrome (95% CI, -2.14 to -0.36). They also had a 0.89-point lower digit span examination score (95% CI, -1.65 to -0.13). Increases in individual components of metabolic syndrome, including increased waist circumference and high systolic blood pressure, were associated with impaired working memory and attention, while waist circumference and high fasting glucose were associated with lower reading scores, the researchers wrote.
“In this cross-sectional analysis, we found associations between metabolic syndrome, its components and impaired cognitive performance, which are crucial for success in school and work,” the researchers wrote. “These results suggest that control of metabolic syndrome at an early age may reduce cognitive decline and improve cognitive function and quality of life in adulthood. Because metabolic syndrome appears to be reversible, it would be important to explore whether the adverse impact of metabolic syndrome on cognitive performance is reversible with weight loss and reversal of metabolic syndrome and its components.” – by Andy Polhamus
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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