Cardiovascular risk factors and memory decline in middle-aged and older adults: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

BACKGROUND: We investigated the association between trajectories of verbal episodic memory and burden of cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged and older community-dwellers. METHODS: We analysed data from 4372 participants aged 50–64 and 3005 persons aged 65–79 years old from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing who were repeatedly evaluated every 2 years and had six interviews of a 10-year follow-up. We measured the following baseline risk factors: diabetes, hypertension, smoking, physical inactivity and obesity to derive a cardiovascular risk factor score (CVRFs). Adjusted linear mixed effect regression models were estimated to determine the association between number of CVFRs and six repeated measurements of verbal memory scores, separately for middle-aged and older adults. RESULTS: CVRFs was not significantly associated with memory at baseline. CVFRs was significantly associated with memory decline in middle-aged (50-64y), but not in older (65-79y) participants. This association followed a dose-response pattern with increasing number of CVFRs being associated with greater cognitive decline. Comparisons between none versus some CVRFs yielded significant differences (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that the effect of cumulative CVRFs on subsequent cognitive deterioration is age-dependent. CVRFs are associated with cognitive decline in people aged 50–64 years, but not in those aged ≥65 years. Although modest, the memory decline associated with accumulation of cardiovascular risk factors in midlife may increase the risk of late-life dementia.