No se trata solo de demencia

Un estudio de 7068 estadounidenses mayores indica que se necesita más investigación para guiar las estrategias para un envejecimiento saludable.

Un estudio de la Universidad Estatal de Ohio analizó datos de 7068 estadounidenses mayores para identificar los factores que contribuyen al deterioro cognitivo. Si bien la demencia representa el 41 % del deterioro cognitivo, otros factores, como la educación, la raza y las condiciones socioeconómicas, afectan significativamente la función cognitiva. Sin embargo, estos factores explican solo el 5,6 % de cómo cambia la función cognitiva con la edad, lo que deja un 77 % sin explicación. Los hallazgos subrayan la necesidad de más investigación para comprender los impulsores del deterioro cognitivo e informar las estrategias clínicas.

Un nuevo análisis explora las asociaciones estadísticas relativas entre varios factores de la vida y el deterioro cognitivo en los estadounidenses mayores, y destaca las lagunas en el conocimiento necesario para reducir el deterioro cognitivo. Hui Zheng de la Universidad Estatal de Ohio, EE. UU., y sus colegas presentaron recientemente estos hallazgos en la revista Open Access Mas uno.

Millones de estadounidenses mayores sufren de deterioro cognitivo. Sin embargo, solo alrededor del 41 por ciento de esta disminución puede explicarse estadísticamente por la demencia, una disminución anormal causada por condiciones como[{» attribute=»»>Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular disease, and Lewy body disease. Prior research has identified many other factors that may also contribute to cognitive decline, from genetics to early life nutrition, but their relative impacts remain unclear.

To shed new light, Zheng and colleagues analyzed data from 7,068 American adults born between 1931 and 1941 who were part of a larger study—the Health and Retirement Study—that regularly measured their cognitive function from 1996 to 2016. The study also collected extensive information on personal factors that could contribute to cognitive decline, such as socioeconomic factors, physical health measures, and behaviors including exercise and smoking.

Together, the many factors considered in the study statistically accounted for 38 percent of the variation between participants in their level of cognitive function at age 54. Among those factors, personal education, race, household wealth and income, occupation, level of depression, and parental education were the biggest statistical contributors to that population-level variation, with early life conditions and adult behaviors and diseases contributing less.

However, all of the considered factors accounted for only 5.6 percent of the variation in how participants’ cognitive function changed with age.

Unlike many prior studies, this study also distinguished between age-related cognitive decline and cognitive decline that is unrelated to getting older. Age accounted for 23 percent of the variation in how cognitive function changed from age 54 to 85, but the remaining 77 percent could not be statistically accounted for by the many factors considered.

These findings suggest that more research is needed to identify the major factors contributing to rate of cognitive decline, which could help inform medical treatments, policies, and equity-based strategies to slow decline.

Hui Zheng adds: “Adulthood socioeconomic conditions have a predominant role in shaping the level of cognitive functioning. Future research is urgently needed to discover the main determinants of the slope of decline to slow down the progression of cognitive impairment and dementia.”

Kathleen Cagney adds: “Understanding cognitive health, and cognitive decline, is paramount.  We must take the long view, with attention to the timing and nature of life experiences, if we are to gain fundamental insights that can inform care and treatment.”

Reference: “Predictors of cognitive functioning trajectories among older Americans: A new investigation covering 20 years of age- and non-age-related cognitive change” by Hui Zheng, Kathleen Cagney and Yoonyoung Choi, 8 February 2023, PLOS ONE.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281139