A high sugar diet, long associated with heart disease and type two diabetes, may now also be linked to accelerated ageing, according to recent research. Earlier in the year, University of Oxford experts delved into brain scans from 40,000 UK individuals to shed light on dementia’s aggravating factors.
They pinpointed 161 factors, with type two diabetes ranking as one of the most harmful, often a byproduct of sugary diets.
“What makes this study special is that we examined the unique contribution of each modifiable risk factor by looking at all of them together to assess the resulting degeneration of this particular brain ‘weak spot’,” said co-author Professor Anderson Winkler from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, as reported by the Mirror. “It is with this kind of comprehensive, holistic approach − and once we had taken into account the effects of age and sex − that three emerged as the most harmful: diabetes, air pollution, and alcohol.”
Dementia, a term for the deterioration in cognitive function, severely affects memory, thinking, and decision-making abilities, altering everyday life significantly.
Experts have pinpointed 161 dangerous factors that contribute to cognitive decline, but they have homed in on 15 prime suspects encompassing blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, and diabetes. Those fond of a tipple should take heed; alcohol intake has also landed on the roster of significant risks alongside smoking and depression, reports Surrey Live.
Notably, environmental pollutants and sleep deprivation are implicated too, fatigue being associated with an uptick in Alzheimer’s-related proteins. .
Professor Gwenaëlle Douaud, who headed the research, highlighted: “We know that a constellation of brain regions degenerates earlier in aging, and in this new study we have shown that these specific parts of the brain are most vulnerable to diabetes, traffic-related air pollution − increasingly a major player in dementia − and alcohol, of all the common risk factors for dementia.”
Furthermore, she indicated the role of genetics, noting: “We have found that several variations in the genome influence this brain network, and they are implicated in cardiovascular deaths, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, as well as with the two antigens of a little-known blood group, the elusive XG antigen system, which was an entirely new and unexpected finding.”
The study offers a glimmer of hope; despite these factors potentially accelerating dementia, many are considered ‘modifiable,’ suggesting that it may not be too late for individuals to alter unhealthy habits.