HEALTH Metabolic syndrome linked to mental decline

Two traits of the syndrome are large waist girth and high blood pressure.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
People with substantial waistlines may run an elevated risk of cognitive decline as they age, scientists reported this week in one of the most ambitious attempts yet to link obesity and mental health.
A study led by Dr. Kristine Yaffe, chief of geriatric psychiatry at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, is the first to suggest cognitive effects from what is known as metabolic syndrome.
Wide girth about the middle is the syndrome's most obvious trait, accompanied by high blood pressure and unhealthy levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose in the blood.
The syndrome is a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular disease that is seen in about 1 in 4 adults in the United States, and 40 percent of those older than age 40.
The new study, which appears in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association, shows the aging brain also may be affected if one is an "apple-shaped person," Yaffe said in an interview. "Now we know that metabolic syndrome is not just bad for your heart. It's also bad for your brain," she said.
2,600 in study
Yaffe and her colleagues tracked for five years about 2,600 people with an average age of 74 at community clinics in Pittsburgh and Memphis.
About 26 percent of those with the metabolic syndrome showed "significant cognitive decline" on standard neurological tests, compared with only 21 percent of study participants without the syndrome.
The researchers drew no distinctions among the various types of cognitive problems, which can come from Alzheimer's disease, stroke and other underlying conditions.
Yaffe said the key problem seems to be high levels of inflammation that can result from the metabolic syndrome. That's because large amounts of visceral fat can put certain hormones and other molecules into circulation that can have corrosive effects throughout the body.
"It turns out that fat cells are not so benign," she said. "They don't just sit there and take up space. They may actually produce inflammation."