Forget repeatedly at age 45 where he left the car keys or having to read several times in a text to understand often attributed to work stress, lack of sleep, the frenetic pace of life. They can also be early signs of cognitive impairment that ultimately can lead to dementia or Alzheimer's, according to new research has found.
Although all the tests to detect dementia and cognitive impairment study focused on people aged 60 years, scientists at the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health of France and the University College London, suggest that these losses begin before brain function and argue that "understanding cognitive evolution as it birthday is one of the challenges of this century" by the medical implications it has.
To get to say that the brain begins to age at 45, the authors analyzed a decade to 5198 men and 2192 women aged between 45 and 70 years. During the study period, participants evaluated to measure their memory, vocabulary and visual comprehension skills and test their skills in writing and semantics. The divided by age group between 45-49 years, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64 and 65-70.
The results, published in the journal 'British Medical Journal , show that cognitive decline was visible in all groups and in all categories (memory, reasoning, semantics, and comprehension) except in the vocabulary, which seems to be little influenced by age. It also found that the higher the worst people the brain works.
In men between 45 and 49 years, the deterioration in the argument over the decade was 3.6%, while for the elderly, those of 65-70 years was 9.6%. In women the percentages are 3.6% and 7.4% respectively.
Archana Singh-Manoux, a signer of the work, states that "having achieved this evidence shows that there is cognitive impairment before 60 years has important implications and demonstrates the need to promote healthy lifestyles, particularly in regard to what the heart is concerned ".
The authors note that "patients with a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (obesity, high cholesterol, etc..) should take care not only to safeguard your heart, but also to prevent dementia later. "
It is known that when symptoms of dementia are the result of a long process of cognitive impairment has been last 20 or 30 years. Although much research has been done in the diagnostic methods have not yet been discovered biomarkers or cognitive profiles that clearly show the development of dementia. However, we do that there are enough studies that show the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and the possibilities of developing dementia . Hence the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
In an editorial accompanying the study, Francine Grodstein, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston (USA) states that this finding "has profound implications for the prevention of dementia . So far there is no cure for this disorder but know that the most effective is diagnosed and treated soon. " So, following this study, tests to detect cognitive impairment "should be made from the 45 years" .
It also indicates that "we are entering a new era of research and prevention that opens a hope of identifying ways to intervene earlier in the development of the disease."
