The five strongest factors that age your brain faster – and how to spot the silent symptoms
SCIENTISTS have revealed five hidden health risks that could be ageing your brain faster.
They include silent killer conditions like high blood pressure or high blood sugar, which have hard to spot symptoms.
As we age, the structure of our brain changes over the years.
It begins to shrink, and tiny fibres in the brain’s white matter that help different parts communicate are damaged or don’t work properly.
These changes have been linked to cognitive decline and “may increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia“, according to Chinese scientists.
Brain age, which is estimated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features, has become a key way of assessing brain ageing, they added.
“Brain age prediction using neuroimaging data and machine learning algorithms holds significant promise for gaining insights into the development of neurodegenerative diseases,” scientists wrote in the journal Research.
“However, the degree to which various clinical factors in individuals are associated with brain structure – as well as the relationship between these factors and brain ageing – is not yet clear.”
There is growing evidence that factors such as drinking, smoking, diabetes and a higher body mass index (BMI) can have a negative effect on brain structure.
Scientists from Capital Medical University in Beijing, China, set out to find out how “health factors contribute to the degeneration of the brain structures”.
Their study included 964 participants – with an average age of 55 – who were followed up with over a 12 year period.
Researchers identified five “high-risk clinical factors” clinical factors that appeared to speed up brain ageing.
These were:
- Hypertension – high blood pressure
- Hyperglycemia – high blood sugar, mainly affecting diabetics
- Hypercreatinemia – high creatinine levels, which can indicate a kidney infection or kidney failure
- Smoking
- Low level of education
Participants were broken up into five groups, based on the number of high-risk factors they had.
They put together a brain age prediction model and used it to estimate the brain ages of participants based on their MRI scans and what conditions they had.
What are the early symptoms of cognitive decline?
WE all notice a natural decline in memory and thinking as we age.
This will be more pronounced in some people, as they experience memory and thinking problems that are mild but still noticeable.
This is described as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Unlike dementia sufferers, people with MCI can still get on with day-to-day life.
Research suggests that two out of 10 people over the age
of 65 have MCI, according to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
About one in 10 people who’ve received an MCI diagnosis will go on to develop dementia.
Symptoms of MCI include:
Memory – Misplacing items or having trouble
remembering recent conversations.
- Attention problems – finding it difficult to concentrate,
e.g. while watching a TV programme or carrying out
duties at work - Disorientation – confusion about time, date or place
- Thinking skills – problems with planning or completing
tasks, e.g. managing money, or cooking a meal - Problems with communication and finding the right words
- Mood and behaviour changes – becoming irritable, anxious,
or feeling low
These symptoms may affect someone with MCI all the
time, or they might come and go.
There are steps we can take to keep our brains as healthy as possible. These include:
- Not smoking
- Doing regular physical activity
- Staying mentally and socially active
- Eating a healthy balanced diet
- Limiting the amount of alcohol we drink
- Having your hearing checked regularly
- Keeping blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol
levels in check
Researchers found that people with four to five of the high-risk factors had “significantly higher” brain age compared to participants who fell into none of the risk factor categories, or had up to three.
This suggests that a combination of health and lifestyle factors all together contribute to an accelerated brain ageing process.
Further analysis revealed that – out of the five factors – high blood pressure caused the most significant damage to the brain.
“Our study may help promote healthy brain ageing process in the general population by providing valuable insights into a range of risk factors across metabolism, lifestyle, and social background,” researchers concluded.
“Our findings not only enhance public awareness regarding the significance of maintaining brain health but also contribute to the advancement of interventions targeting these specific risk factors and public health initiatives aimed at enhancing brain health.”
How to spot subtle symptoms
Persistent high blood pressure puts extra strain on your blood vessels, heart and other organs and it can raise your risk of serious conditions like heart disease, heart attacks and stroke – as well as ageing your brain, according to the research.
But often the condition can cause no obvious symptoms – meaning many Brits might not realise they have it unless they get a blood pressure check at a pharmacy or their GP.
Rarely, high blood pressure can cause symptoms such as:
- Headaches
- Blurred vision
- Chest pain
But the only way to know for sure if you have the condition is to get checked.
You can do so for free in pharmacies if you’re 40 and over.
As for high blood sugar, this mainly affects people with diabetes and it can be serious if left untreated.
Symptoms can come on gradually and may only start when your blood sugar level gets very high.
Common symptoms include:
- Feeling very thirsty
- Peeing a lot
- Feeling weak or tired
- Blurred vision
- Losing weight
Finally, high creatinine levels can indicate kidney issues.
Creatinine is a waste product from the muscles, which is usually filtered out from the blood by the kidneys and expelled in the form of pee.
Blood tests are used to show creatinine levels.
People with high creatinine levels will experience different symptoms, depending on the cause.
It can be an indication of kidney disease, which – in later stages – can cause symptoms like:
- Weight loss or poor appetite
- Swollen ankles, feet or hands
- Shortness of breath
- Tiredness
- Blood in your pee
- Peeing more than usual, particularly at night