MIAMI: Yo-yo dieting could increase your risk of dementia, a new study warns.
The medical community has long advised people to keep their levels of ‘bad cholesterol’ from fatty and sugary foods to a minimum.
But new research suggests that letting those levels fluctuate by crash dieting could also have devastating consequences.
According to experts at the American Heart Association, fluctuations affect blood flow to the brain – a process which could lead to memory loss and even Alzheimer’s.
Dangerous? New research suggests that letting levels of bad cholesterol fluctuate by crash dieting could have just as devastating consequences as constantly high levels of bad cholesterol.
A landmark study has identified the first physiological sign of late-onset Alzheimer’s.
Contrary to previous understanding, brain scans show a decrease in blood flow through the brain is the earliest indicator that a patient has the disease.
An increase in amyloid protein was thought to be the number one sign.
But while amyloid plays a role, experts at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital have determined that blood flow decreases first in the most thorough study ever published on Alzheimer’s.
They also found that changes in cognition begin earlier than previously thought.
The study, led by Dr Alan Evans, has provided the most complete maps of the disease to date.
‘Our findings suggest for the first time that it’s not just the average level of your LDL-cholesterol that is related to brain health, but also how much your levels vary from one measurement to another,’ lead author Roelof Smit, a Ph.D. student at Leiden University Medical Center, said.
In a study of European adults age 70 to 82 years old, researchers found that greater fluctuations in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), or ‘bad’ cholesterol, are associated with lower cognitive performance.
For example, study participants with the highest LDL cholesterol variability took 2.7 seconds longer on average to finish a cognitive test to name ink colors of color words written in different ink (for example, the word blue written in red ink), compared to individuals with the lowest variability.
‘While this might seem like a small effect, it is significant at a population level,’ said Smit.
The link between variability and declining cognitive function was found regardless of average bad cholesterol levels or use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.
In addition, greater fluctuations in bad cholesterol were associated with lower brain blood flow and greater white matter hyperintensity load – which has been linked to endothelial dysfunction.
These results show LDL cholesterol variability may be important to neurocognitive function, Smit said.
Measurements fluctuate because of diet, exercise, frequency of cholesterol-lowering statins and other factors, he said.
However, these fluctuations might also reflect an increasingly impaired homeostasis.