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Is There an Association Between Metabolic Syndrome and Cognitive Function in Very Old Adults? The Newcastle 85+Study

Lookup NU author(s): Stephanie Harrison, Professor Bloss Stephan, Dr Mario Siervo, Dr Antoneta Granic, Dr Karen Davies, Emeritus Professor Thomas Kirkwood, Professor Dame Louise Robinson, Emerita Professor Carol Jagger

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Abstract

ObjectivesTo determine, using data from the Newcastle 85+ Study, whether there is an association between modern diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cognitive function in very old adults (85) and whether inflammation, physical activity, or diabetes mellitus status affects this association.DesignLongitudinal, population-based cohort study.SettingNewcastle and North Tyneside, United Kingdom.ParticipantsCommunity-dwelling and institutionalized men and women recruited through general practices (N=845).MeasurementsMetS was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria. Cross-sectional and prospective (up to 5years of follow-up) associations between MetS and global cognitive function (assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)) and between MetS and attention and episodic memory (assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research battery) were performed.ResultsMetS was not associated with cognitive function at baseline or cognitive change over time. Lack of association was not because MetS was predictive of subsequent mortality. Of the individual components of the MetS criteria, high blood pressure was associated with better cognitive function at baseline (MMSE: (standard error (SE))=-0.716 (0.152), P<.001), and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was associated with poorer global cognitive function at baseline (MMSE: 0.436 (0.131), P=.001).ConclusionThe association between MetS and cognitive decline, which has been described in younger populations (<75), was not apparent in this population of individuals aged 85 and older at baseline.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Harrison SL, Stephan BCM, Siervo M, Granic A, Davies K, Wesnes KA, Kirkwood TBL, Robinson L, Jagger C

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Year: 2015

Volume: 63

Issue: 4

Pages: 667-675

Print publication date: 01/04/2015

Online publication date: 08/04/2015

Acceptance date: 28/10/2014

Date deposited: 16/12/2015

ISSN (print): 0002-8614

ISSN (electronic): 1532-5415

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jgs.13358

DOI: 10.1111/jgs.13358

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