A new study in Sweden indicates that high blood sugar levels, inflammation may lead to fast ageing of the brain. Published: December 23, 2024 5:07 PM IST By Brains of people with high glucose levels and inflammation can age faster, increasing their risk of developing dementia, according to a study. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden used an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to analyse brain images from 739 cognitively healthy people aged 70-years to explore the brain’s biological age.
They found various risk and health factors that determine the speed at which the brain ages. The study, presented in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, showed that diabetes, stroke, cerebral small vessel disease, and inflammation were linked to brains with an older appearance, On the other hand, healthy lifestyles involving regular exercise were linked to brains with a younger appearance, the study added. The team conducted MRI scans of the participant’s brains and then estimated the age of the resulting brain images using their AI-based algorithm.
Further, blood samples were taken for measuring lipids, glucose, and inflammation; and their cognitive abilities were also tested. The AI tool estimated the brain age for both sexes to be on average 71 years. The researchers then looked at the ”brain age gap” by subtracting the participants’ estimated biological brain age from their chronological age.
“A take-home from the study .
