Health issues in 20s may lead to poor brain function in older age

Some of the health issues faced by a person in their 20s may lead to problems with thinking, memory skills and the brain's ability to properly regulate its blood flow as they grow older, new research suggests. Health issues such as smoking, high cholesterol or a high body mass index (BMI) in one's youth, may make them more likely to have a weak brain in older age. Studied for 30 years over the course, the team assessed cardiovascular health based on five factors -- smoking, BMI, blood pressure, total cholesterol and fasting blood glucose level. The researchers found that people with better cardiovascular health at the beginning of the study were more likely to have higher scores on the tests of thinking and memory skills 30 years later than those with worse cardiovascular health. The results were the same after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect thinking and memory skills, such as level of education. The people with better cardiovascular health at the beginning of the study and seven years into the study were more likely to have better cerebral autoregulation, or the body's ability to maintain stable blood flow in the brain. This means that during changes in blood pressure, the brain is able to maintain adequate blood flow. She noted that the study does not prove that better cardiovascular health results in better thinking and memory skills or the better ability of the brain to regulate blood flow. It only shows an association. A limitation of the study was that researchers did not have cerebral autoregulation measured at each visit to better understand the relationship over time between cardiovascular health and brain blood flow regulation as they relate to midlife cognition.