US Healthcare published an article on research from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) measuring the cardiovascular fat of over 500 women in midlife and finding that heart fat might significantly affect cognitive performance in the female population. The previously undocumented findings in this SWAN study, conducted by researchers from six institutions including the University of Pittsburgh, were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association as well as being presented at the last meeting of the North American Menopause Society.
“We know obesity is not good for us and extra weight we have on our body can impact our heart, but it affects more than we thought,” says Samar El Khoudary, Ph.D., senior study author and epidemiologist at University of Pittsburgh. “Where we store heart fat and the quality as well as the quantity of this fat can matter to our brain as well.”
El Khoudary and associates found that fat around the heart and in it may cause a decrease in cognitive function later in women’s lives. Depending on the heart fat’s quality vs. the quantity, it also may aid in maintaining healthy cognitive performance in women. The researchers advise women to take steps to limit fat accumulation around body organs such as the heart, which can occur as women age and gain weight. Interventions like diet and exercise that limit fat accumulation may be able to assist cognitive function, as well as all the other benefits derived from maintaining a healthy weight.
El Khoudary noted that additional research is necessary to confirm the study’s findings. Such information can help scientists and clinicians devise interventions for women to assist in maintaining good cognitive function and to slow its decline.
