Cardiovascular disease usually develops in adulthood, but risk factors accumulate from childhood. Scientists in Finland have conducted the first study that has found a direct link between overweight, blood pressure problems and cholesterol in children with cognitive health in middle age. >
Scientists conducted a national longitudinal study of cardiovascular risk in Finland from childhood to adulthood University of Turku. Since 1980, they have monitored the health of 3.6 thousand boys and girls aged 3 to 18.
In 2001, more than 2,000 study participants, who were between 34 and 49 years old at the time, took a test that measured various cognitive areas: episodic memory and associative learning, short-term working memory, reaction and movement times, visual processing and attention.
Scientists have found that systolic (upper) blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, as well as body mass index in childhood are directly related to brain function in middle age. In particular, problems with pressure and increased «bad» cholesterol negatively affect memory, and obesity affects the speed of processing visual information and concentration. At the same time, the presence of all these risk factors is associated with a deterioration in almost all cognitive functions.
The authors of the study noted that many diseases that cause neurological deficits, such as Alzheimer's disease, go through a long preclinical phase before the onset of symptoms, therefore Finding the link between childhood obesity and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease is very important for cognitive health. Especially considering that there are still no effective treatments for such diseases.
Our findings suggest that actively monitoring and preventing cardiovascular disease from early childhood can make a big difference when it comes to brain health,» the scientists concluded.