Photo credit: www.sciencedaily.com
Recent research from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Columbia Butler Aging Center has uncovered that risk factors and biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease have cognitive implications much earlier in life than previously understood. This study emphasizes notable connections between cognitive function and Alzheimer’s-related risk factors in individuals aged 24 to 44, asserting the necessity of early intervention approaches. It marks the first comprehensive analysis of Alzheimer’s disease risk factors and cognitive impairment biomarkers in a sizable cohort of predominantly healthy middle-aged Americans. The results are published in The Lancet- Regional Health Americas.
“Traditionally, Alzheimer’s research has concentrated on individuals aged 50 and older,” explained Allison Aiello, PhD, a professor at the Butler Aging Center and Columbia Mailman School. “The implications of our research are substantial, providing clinicians and health researchers with enhanced insights into the emergence of Alzheimer’s disease risk factors and their cognitive correlations well before reaching middle age.”
According to Aiello, the study revealed that a variety of recognized risk factors, as well as blood biomarkers, are significantly correlated with cognitive performance even in early adulthood. Identifying these connections at a younger age establishes a foundation for predicting long-term cognitive decline. “We found that certain Alzheimer’s risk factors, including those associated with cardiovascular health, ATN (amyloid, tau, neurodegeneration), and immune system biomarkers, manifest and are related to cognitive function in individuals in their forties and even younger,” she stated.
The researchers utilized the Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE) score which incorporates variables such as age, education level, sex, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol levels, physical activity, and the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE ε4), a known hereditary risk factor for Alzheimer’s. The analysis drew from Waves IV and V of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), which has tracked a representative adolescent cohort in the U.S. since 1994-1995. In Wave IV, approximately half of the participants were female, and around 70 percent identified as White.
Wave IV consisted of data from up to 11,449 individuals aged 24-34. The researchers conducted in-home interviews, cognitive assessments, physical examinations, and collected blood samples from 4,507 participants. In Wave V, surveys—both in-person and online—were administered to participants aged 34-44, involving 1,112 individuals who underwent cognitive testing, such as immediate and delayed word recall tasks and backward digit span assessments, providing data for genetic analysis. Findings from these cognitive assessments were correlated with the overall CAIDE scores in 529 individuals during Wave V.
“Our exploration of the CAIDE score’s relationship with cognitive performance in young adulthood and early midlife in the U.S. demonstrated significant links with cardiovascular risk factors well before the age of 50,” Aiello noted.
In terms of biological factors, genetic, neurological, immune, and inflammatory biomarkers are recognized in relation to Alzheimer’s risk. The ATN trio of biomarkers—amyloid (A), tau (T), and neurodegeneration (N)—is increasingly seen as valuable predictors of Alzheimer’s disease risk in older populations. These ATN biomarkers and associated immune markers related to cognitive function were found to have associations even before midlife. However, a critical genetic risk factor, APOE, did not influence participants in this age group, suggesting its effects may manifest later in life.
“Our findings indicate that blood-based biomarkers linked to Alzheimer’s are related to variations in cognitive function many years before clinical symptoms arise, reinforcing the urgency for early prevention strategies throughout life,” Aiello emphasized. “Recognizing the early pathways leading to Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline before old age is vital to mitigating the anticipated surge of Alzheimer’s cases in the next decades.”
Co-authors of the study include Jennifer Momkus, Chantel L. Martin, Lauren Gaydosh, Y. Claire Yang, Taylor Hargrove, and Kathleen Mullan Harris from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Rebecca C. Stebbins from the Butler Columbia Aging Center; and Yuan S. Zhang and Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri from the Butler Columbia Aging Center and Mailman School of Public Health.
This research received support from Add Health, grant P01HD31921, and other cooperative funding from various federal agencies and foundations including the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Aging.
Source
www.sciencedaily.com