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3 New Papers on Integrase Inhibitors &
TAF and Weight Changes, Metabolics
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24 Apr 2024
Middle-aged Black women with better heart health are less likely to show a decline in mental function, according to a study published online April 24 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
There was a decline in processing speed that was explained by race, age, and the 3‐way interaction of race, CVH, and time (F1,4308=8.8, P=0.003). CVH was unrelated to decline in White women but in Black women poorer CVH was associated with greater decline. Working memory did not decline in the total cohort, by race, or by CVH.
Conclusions
In summary, decline in processing speed, a leading indicator of age‐related cognitive decline,41 appears to begin early in the fourth decade of life primarily in those Black women with poorer CVH. These data provide a new rationale for optimizing CVH, particularly blood pressure control and smoking cessation, in Black women at midlife. By so doing, it could foster maintenance of independence with aging and reduction of health disparities in cognitive disorders.
Abstract
Background
Cognitive decline may progress for decades before dementia onset. Better cardiovascular health (CVH) has been related to less cognitive decline, but it is unclear whether this begins early, for all racial subgroups, and all domains of cognitive function. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of CVH on decline in the 2 domains of cognition that decline first in White and Black women at midlife.
Methods and Results
Subjects were 363 Black and 402 White women, similar in baseline age (mean±SD, 46.6±3.0 years) and education (15.7±2.0 years), from the Chicago site of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Cognition, measured as processing speed and working memory, was assessed annually or biennially over a maximum of 20 years (mean±SD, 9.8±6.7 years).
CVH was measured as Life's Essential 8 (blood pressure, body mass index, glucose, non‐high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking, physical activity, diet, sleep). Hierarchical linear mixed models identified predictors of cognitive decline with progressive levels of adjustment.
There was a decline in processing speed that was explained by race, age, and the 3‐way interaction of race, CVH, and time (F1,4308=8.8, P=0.003). CVH was unrelated to decline in White women but in Black women poorer CVH was associated with greater decline. Working memory did not decline in the total cohort, by race, or by CVH.
CVH was lower for Black women than for White women on the total CVH score and all component scores except diet, tobacco use, and non‐high‐density lipoprotein.
Conclusions
In midlife Black women, CVH promotion may be a target for preventing the beginnings of cognitive decline, thereby enhancing independent living with aging.
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