Recently, the World Economic Forum presented a staggering statistic: of the 57 million people living with dementia worldwide, 60-70% are thought to have Alzheimer’s.
The number of people with dementia is expected to increase to 150 million by 2050, the forum claimed. Research is on to find a solution to cure dementia.
This neurodegenerative condition affects speech, power of recollection, and thought processes over time.
Meanwhile, a new study claims that disrupted flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain may help explain how poor sleep and heart problems raise the risk of dementia.
The fluid, which cushions the central nervous system and carries away waste, also delivers nutrients to the brain. It is a key part of the brain’s glymphatic system.
According to reports, researchers from the University of Cambridge said the glymphatic system is critical in protecting against dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
In Alzheimer’s, proteins called amyloid build up and form toxic plaques.
The study, published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, examined whether disorders of small blood vessels in the brain and cardiovascular risks such as high blood pressure could damage the glymphatic system. These conditions can reduce blood flow and are known to cause vascular dementia.
Using MRI brain scans from 40,000 adults in the UK Biobank, the researchers identified three biomarkers that could predict the risk of developing dementia within 10 years. These included how water moves through the tiny perivascular spaces around blood vessels and the speed at which cerebrospinal fluid enters the brain.
Author Yutong Chen from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Clinical Neurosciences said the study showed strong evidence that disruption of the glymphatic system contributes to dementia, even if the findings are based on indirect markers. Chen said this discovery raises important questions about how the system can be improved.
The authors wrote that impaired cerebrospinal fluid dynamics may lead to dementia and partly explain the link between cardiovascular risks and cognitive decline. They said that although these risk factors are believed to affect dementia through changes in fluid flow, direct human evidence remains limited.
The team also found that blood pressure and diabetes can interfere with glymphatic function. This may raise dementia risk by causing cerebral small vessel disease.
First author Hui Hong, a radiologist at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in China, said that earlier research had already shown how small vessel disease worsens Alzheimer’s. Hong added that disruption of the glymphatic system may reduce the brain’s ability to clear harmful amyloid and tau proteins.
The researchers suggested that good sleep could help maintain healthy glymphatic function and lower dementia risk. They also said that existing drugs could potentially be repurposed (or new ones developed) to improve this brain-cleansing system.
Also Read: Study Links Impaired Brain Waste Clearance To Dementia https://www.vibesofindia.com/your-old-age-fitness-mantra-lies-in-your-present-health-regime/
