Cholesterol, cognitive performance in Framingham

February 22, 2005

This new study (Feb 2005) is a little worrying for me as my low fat

diet (20% fat) cholesterol reading four or five years ago was 140

and there is only one self inflicted CHD case in my family (smoking,

trans fat etc, no veg diet), but more cancer and a very lot of

dementia in my family. Most of my relatives just seem to die

because they loose their mental faculties and stop looking after

themselves which leads to accidents and malnutrition. Though I

expect my cholesterol to rise now my fat has increased.

...

Serum cholesterol and cognitive performance in the Framingham Heart

Study.

Elias PK, Elias MF, D'Agostino RB, Sullivan LM, Wolf PA.

Statistics and Consulting Unit, Department of Mathematics and

Statistics, Boston University, 111 Cummington St., Boston,

Massachusetts 02215, USA. pelias100@...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the

relationship between total cholesterol (TC) and cognitive

performance within the context of the Framingham Heart Study, a

large, community-based, prospective investigation of cardiovascular

risk factors. METHODS: Participants were 789 men and 1105 women from

the Framingham Heart Study original cohort who were free of dementia

and stroke and who received biennial TC determinations over a 16- to

18-year surveillance period. Cognitive tests were administered 4 to

6 years subsequent to the surveillance period and consisted of

measures of learning, memory, attention/concentration, abstract

reasoning, concept formation, and organizational abilities.

Statistical models were adjusted for multiple demographic and

biological covariates. RESULTS: There was a significant positive

linear association between TC and measures of verbal fluency,

attention/concentration, abstract reasoning, and a composite score

measuring multiple cognitive domains. Performance levels for three

clinically defined groups were examined. Participants

with " desirable " TC levels (<200 mg/dL) performed less well than

participants with borderline-high TC levels (200-239 mg/dL) and

participants with high TC levels (there exists 240 mg/dL).

CONCLUSIONS: Lower naturally occurring TC levels are associated with

poorer performance on cognitive measures, which place high demands

on abstract reasoning, attention/concentration, word fluency, and

executive functioning.

PMID: 15673620

Recommended Posts