Photo Credit: AI
The following is a summary of “Association of Year-to-Year Lipid Variability with Risk of Cognitive Decline and Dementia in Community-Dwelling Older Adults,” published in the January 2025 issue of Neurology by Zhou et al.
Lipid metabolism in older adults is influenced by aging, functional decline, reduced reserve, and nutrient intake. Dysregulation may negatively impact brain health.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to examine the link between year-to-year lipid variability and the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older adults.
They conducted a post hoc analysis of 19,114 participants with ASPirin in reducing events in the elderly (ASPREE) aged 65 and older, free of dementia and major cognitive impairment, with lipid measurements at baseline and in years 1, 2, and 3. They quantified year-to-year variability in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and triglycerides using variability independent of the mean, excluding those who initiated or discontinued lipid-lowering therapy. They analyzed associations with incident dementia and cognitive impairment with no dementia (CIND) using multivariable cox regression and assessed cognitive function changes with a linear mixed model.
The results showed that 9,846 individuals (median age: 73.9 years, 54.9% female) were followed for 5.8 years. Hazard ratios (HR) for dementia were 1.60 (1.23–2.08) for TC and 1.48 (1.15–1.91) for LDL-c variability. For CIND, the ratios were 1.23 (1.08–1.41) for TC and 1.27 (1.11–1.46) for LDL-c. Higher variability in TC and LDL-c was linked to faster cognitive decline (P< 0.001). No strong association was found for HDL-c or triglycerides.
Investigators found that tracking TC and LDL-c variability may serve as a biomarker for dementia and cognitive decline in older adults.
Source: neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000210247
