Aging: Healthy habits could offset stroke, dementia, depression risk
New research finds certain diseases may be more common in people with a biomarker of aging but not in those with healthy lifestyles. Ivan Gener/Stocksy Age can increase a person's risk for several health conditions, including stroke, dementia, and late-life depression.
A new study has identified an aging biomarker that is more common in people who develop stroke, dementia, and depression as they age.
Researchers found that study participants who followed a healthy lifestyle appeared to offset the risks associated with this aging biomarker.
'Stroke and dementia are among the most prevalent age-related diseases, affecting millions worldwide and representing major health challenges for individuals, families, and healthcare systems,' Tamara N. Kimball, MD, a post-doctoral research fellow in the Brain Care Labs at Mass General Brigham told Medical News Today .
'With their impact expected to grow dramatically as populations age — and the number of people ages 60 and over projected to increase from 1 billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion by 2030 — developing effective prevention strategies has become urgent,' she said.
Kimball is the lead author of a new study recently published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, that has identified an aging biomarker that is more common in people who develop stroke, dementia, and depression as they age.
However, researchers found that following a healthy lifestyle offsets the risk of the diseases associated with this aging biomarker.
For this study, researchers analyzed medical records for more than 356,000 adults with a median age of 56 living in the U.K.
'Imagine your shoelaces have plastic tips that protect them from fraying — telomeres work similarly for your DNA,' Kimball explained. 'Every time your cells divide, which happens constantly as your body repairs and maintains itself, these protective tips get a little shorter. As they become shorter over time, their ability to protect DNA diminishes, leading to cellular aging and an increased susceptibility risk of age-related diseases.'
'The length of telomeres in white blood cells (leukocytes) can serve as a marker of biological aging and is influenced by genetic factors, lifestyle choices, and environmental stressors,' she added.
At the study's conclusion, researchers found that study participants with the shortest telomere length had 5.82 cases per 1,000 person-years (number of people in the study and amount of time each person spent in the study) of the brain diseases dementia, stroke, and late-life depression, compared to 3.92 cases for participants with the longest telomeres.
'This shows people with the shortest telomeres presented (with) these brain diseases about 1.5 times more than those with the longest telomeres, demonstrating how biological aging affects brain health,' Kimball said.
Scientists also discovered that study participants with short telomeres who had brain disease risk factors such as high blood pressure and smoking were 11% more likely to develop stroke, dementia, or depression than those with long telomeres.
'Our results demonstrate that individuals with low Brain Care Score — reflecting less favorable lifestyle factors like high blood pressure and smoking — consistently showed elevated risk for stroke, dementia, and depression when they also had shorter telomeres,' Kimball said. '
This suggests a compounded risk effect where biological aging and poor lifestyle choices increase disease susceptibility,' she said.
Interestingly, Kimball and her team also found that participants with short telomeres, but who had high Brain Care Scores, did not have a higher risk of developing the studied brain diseases.
'In individuals with high Brain Care Score, the impact of leukocyte telomere length on disease risk was not significant,' Kimball explained. 'This may suggest that adopting healthier lifestyles and improving modifiable risk factors can mitigate the negative effects of having shorter telomeres.'
'Research shows that approximately 45% of dementia cases and up to 85% of strokes are linked to factors we can modify — like blood pressure, diet, and exercise,' she continued. 'Understanding the biological mechanisms by which lifestyle interventions influence cellular aging processes is essential for validating prevention strategies and developing more targeted, evidence-based interventions for brain health.'
'Our findings suggest that adopting healthier lifestyles and improving modifiable risk factors might mitigate some of the negative effects of shorter telomeres, which reflect adverse lifestyle choices in addition to social and environmental determinants of health earlier in life. In short, it is never too late to start taking better care of your brain.'
— Tamara N. Kimball, MD
MNT had the opportunity to speak with Clifford Segil, DO, an adult neurologist in private practice in Santa Monica, CA, who is also on staff at Providence St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, about this study.
'I am excited to see this research indicating a common cause of these three pathologies to develop into a possible treatment for telomere length protection or extension which could possibly decrease the occurrence of stroke, dementia, and depression in my elderly patients.'
— Clifford Segil, DO
Segil said that any time a common pathology is found between disparate neurological disease states, it is exciting as this research may stimulate a novel therapy.
'I often share with my patients that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment and studies like this support my desire to help my patients with common sense practical brain health preventative strategies,' he stated.
For the next steps in this research, Segil said he would like to see this research group focus on specific lifestyle traits which cause patients to be able to maintain their 'large' telomere length and therefore decrease risk of stroke, dementia, and depression to figure out what to advise my patients to do for good brain health.
'I would then want them to do the reverse and figure out which habits or lifestyle choices specifically result in 'short' telomere lengths so I could advise my patients what to avoid in life,' he added.
MNT also spoke with Jasdeep S. Hundal, PsyD, ABPP-CN, director of The Center for Memory & Healthy Aging at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, and associate professor of psychiatry and neurology at Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine in New Jersey, about this research who commented that findings are not entirely surprising, but do add value.
'Short leukocyte telomere length has long been viewed as a general marker of biological aging and this study seems to support this association, especially for people with unhealthy lifestyles.'
— Jasdeep S. Hundal, PsyD, ABPP-CN
'This reinforces what we see clinically in that modifiable risk factors remain central, even in the context of genetic or biological vulnerability, to brain health as we age even if the findings are correlational. It is interesting to speculate that short telomeres aren't necessarily causing these brain diseases, but they are a warning sign, especially in the setting of poor lifestyle choices,' Hundal explained.
'The burden of age-related brain diseases is rapidly rising, and we still have no cure for the most serious dementias like Alzheimer's disease,' he continued. 'Most of the risk factors for these diseases are modifiable, so there is real potential for prevention or risk reduction, even in people who may already be showing signs of biological aging.'
Hundal said that studies like this highlight that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is not just 'good advice,' but can have genuine brain health consequences if someone is biologically vulnerable.
'We need more research identifying which interventions actually make a difference, for whom, and how to implement them in real-world settings,' he added. 'The focus should always be on translating findings like these into concrete strategies that help patients maintain brain health and independence for as long as possible.'
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