Three risk factors that may accelerate brain aging

Rates of neurological diseases such as dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, are on the rise. While there are multiple factors that contribute to diagnosis, certain lifestyles put people at greater risk for memory loss and brain aging than others.

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers looked at brain scans of about 40,000 people aged 45 and over in the UK Biobank database.

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Their main area of ​​interest is how lifestyle and genetic factors affect specific areas of the brain that are particularly sensitive to the effects of aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

Lifestyle is considered a modifiable risk factor. Genetic factors are generally considered unmodifiable (although sometimes lifestyle habits can influence whether a gene is turned on).

Overall, the analysis showed that three things in particular caused these brain regions to degenerate faster and earlier. Here are the three biggest factors:

diabetes

Previous studies have shown that type 2 diabetes increases the risk of dementia by 60 percent PubMed.

Traffic-related air pollution

Although we can’t always control the number A generation The air we are exposed to every day can be reduced by society, and new data shows that exposure to pollution over time increases the risk of dementia.

Consistency in alcohol intake

Consumption, especially excessive amounts, can have harmful effects on the brain. A 2023 study involving more than 3 million people in South Korea published in the journal JAMA Open Network found that continued heavy drinking increased the risk of dementia by 8%. In contrast, limiting alcohol consumption reduced the risk by 8%.

What’s different about this study is that these drugs are so dangerous to brain health — they target a weakness in the brain.

The researchers found that certain genes that code for immune and inflammatory responses can influence how the brain ages more slowly. These genetic factors were also associated with some of the changes.

Therefore, lifestyle may also help you overcome some of the genetic predispositions that lead to early brain aging. Mbuge.