Age brings in structural changes in the human brain. The association between brain age and various health markers was explored by researchers in a recent study that was published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

The study included data from 456 people born in Britain during the same week in 1946. Since birth, each person has undergone 24 evaluations of various aspects. They identified a strong correlation between brain aging and increased cardiovascular risk, decreased cognitive function, and decreased brain capacity. Additionally, they observed a connection between older brain ages and higher levels of neurofilament light protein (NfL). In healthy people, NfL levels rise with age but are also associated with brain damage.

They stated that knowing patient prognoses may be aided by their findings. Further, the study demonstrated a connection between cardiovascular risk and neurodegeneration and the brain-predicted age difference (brain-PAD). Future hippocampal shrinkage, an early sign of Alzheimer′s disease, was also connected to brain-PAD.

But, the researchers did not discover any associations between brain-PAD and any of the biomarkers for Alzheimer′s disease or between brain-PAD and childhood cognitive function, educational attainment, or socioeconomic position.

(Medicalnewstoday.com, August 26, 2022)

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/can-poor-heart-health-predict-how-fast-your-brain-will-age