People with high cholesterol levels in midlife are at higher s risk of developing dementia later in life, researchers say.
The assertion is clear from a study of nearly 10,000, which revealed that those with high cholesterol between 40 and 50 years-a reading of 240 or more-had a 66 percent increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease 40 years later.
Meanwhile, people whose cholesterol was lower, between 200 and 239 – had a 52 percent increased risk of dementia in old age than those with lower levels, the team reported at the University of Kuopio in Finland and the Division of Research Kaiser Permanente.
“Our study shows that even moderately high cholesterol levels at age 40 put people at greater risk of (being) Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia decades later,” said a statement from Rachel Whitmer of the Division of Research Kaiser Permanente in Oakland.
“The good news is that what is good for the heart is also good for the mind and this is an early risk factor for dementia and may be modified and controlled by reducing cholesterol through healthy changes in lifestyle,” said Whitmer.
