Health of blood vessels can reveal health of brain: Study

Brain imaging of 70-year-olds has shown that factors risking the health of blood vessels, such as inflammation and high glucose levels, are related to an older-looking brain, whereas healthy lifestyles to a younger one.

As population around the world ages, dementia cases are projected to rise.

However, researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, said that the speed at which one's brain ages is affected by various risk and health factors.

"Despite the recent introduction of new Alzheimer's drugs, they will not work for everyone with dementia. So, we want to study what can boost the brain's resilience against pathological ageing processes," Anna Marseglia, a researcher at Karolinska Institutet and lead author of the study published in the Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, said.

The researchers took 739 MRI scans of cognitively healthy individuals, 389 of whom were women, and estimated the brain age, using their own AI-based algorithm. Blood samples were taken for measuring lipids, glucose, and inflammation. Cognitive test scores, along with lifestyle, were also analysed.

On average, the brain age for both sexes was found to be 71 years by the AI-based tool.

The researchers also looked at the "brain age gap" by subtracting the participants' estimated biological brain age from their chronological age.

The team found that diabetes, stroke, cerebral small vessel disease, and inflammation were linked to brains with an older appearance, whereas a healthy lifestyle involving regular exercise could be linked to brains of a younger appearance.

"A take-home from the study is that factors that adversely affect the blood vessels can also be related to older-looking brains, which shows how important it is to keep your blood vessels healthy, to protect your brain, by making sure, for instance, that your blood glucose level is kept stable," Marseglia said.