Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 11 pp 15400—15412
Longitudinal trajectories of metabolic syndrome on different neurocognitive domains: a cohort study from the Taiwan biobank
- 1 Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
- 2 Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
- 3 Department of Biochemistry, National Defense Medical Center, Taiwan, Republic of China
Received: February 22, 2021 Accepted: May 18, 2021 Published: June 11, 2021
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203099How to Cite
Copyright: © 2021 Wu and Chen. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) brings considerable effects on cognitive function, but trajectories within remain unclear. We investigated the interactions between distinct MetS components and cognitive domains. A total of 5693 participants from the Taiwan biobank during 2008–2018 were enrolled. Participants were classified as either normal or as having MetS at two time points; i.e., study entry and follow-up. At both the time points, cognitive evaluations using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were conducted. The hazard ratios (HRs) of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia were higher in participants meeting more diagnostic components of MetS. Of the five criteria of MetS, three were significantly associated with MCI and dementia: high blood pressure (MCI: HR = 1.203, p < 0.001; dementia: HR = 1.345, p < 0.001), abdominal obesity (MCI: HR = 1.137, p = 0.006; dementia: HR = 1.442, p < 0.001), and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level (MCI: HR = 1.149, p = 0.007; dementia: HR = 1.364, p < 0.001). Of the cognitive domains measured, three were significantly associated with MetS; namely, orientation, language, and visuospatial abilities. Participants who were initially diagnosed with MetS but were normal at follow-up had an HR of 1.374 for dementia (p = 0.019), which was beyond our expectations. The undiminished risk of cognitive decline in subjects returning to normal status illustrated that neural injury caused by MetS takes a long time to get repaired. Consequently, earlier detection and management of adjustable risk factors of MetS should be encouraged to minimize the damage.