Alzheimer’s: a very variable cholesterol or triglyceride level is risky

Blood levels of cholesterol (or “cholesterolemia” in medical language) and triglycerides (“triglyceridemia”) are measured in particular to diagnose and monitor the development of cardiovascular diseases.

But according to a new study carried out by the Mayo Clinic (in the United States), these two indicators could also predict the risk of senile dementia – a syndrome which mainly concerns the elderly and which affects many cognitive functions, such as memory. , the ability to locate oneself in time and space, the ability to reason and to carry out everyday tasks…

For 5 years, American researchers worked with 11,571 volunteers aged 60 and over. They underwent regular blood tests to measure their cholesterolemia and their triglyceridemia. The participants were then categorized into 5 groups based on how much their blood levels had fluctuated during the observation period. The volunteers were then followed for another 13 years.

Cholesterolemia and triglyceridemia: indicators that could predict senile dementia?

Result ? The American researchers found that, in participants who showed significant fluctuations in their triglyceridemia and their cholesterolemia, there was a greater risk of senile dementia – and Alzheimer’s disease, in particular.

Thus, participants in group 5 for cholesterolemia (that is to say: with a very variable blood cholesterol level) had on average a risk of + 19% compared to those in group 1 (who had relatively low cholesterolemia). steady). Participants in group 5 for triglyceridemia, meanwhile, had an increased risk of + 23% compared to those in group 1.

For the moment, the American researchers do not explain this phenomenon but emphasize that cholesterolemia and triglyceridemia should be monitored more closely in elderly patients, in order to prevent the occurrence of a neurodegenerative pathology.

Source : Neurology