Cognitive ability in early adulthood is associated with systemic inflammation in middle age: The Vietnam experience study

Abstract

We examined the prospective association between cognitive ability in early adulthood and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, a marker of inflammation, in middle age.Participants were 4256 male Vietnam era US veterans. Data on cognitive ability, assessed by the Army General Technical Test, ethnicity, and place of service were extracted from enlistment files. Smoking behaviour, alcohol consumption, basic sociodemographics, and whether participants suffered from a physician diagnosed chronic disease were determined by telephone interview in middle-age in 1985. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, cholesterol, blood pressure, height, and weight were measured at a 3-day medical examination in 1986. In linear regression models that adjusted for age and then additionally for circumstantial, socio-demographic, lifestyle, and health factors, poor cognitive ability in early adulthood was associated with greater erythrocyte sedimentation rate in middle age, β = -.09. Thus, it would appear that not only does systemic inflammation affect cognition, but also that poor cognitive ability earlier in life increases the risk of developing inflammation.

Intelligence in early adulthood and subclinical atherosclerosis in middle-aged men: the Vietnam Experience Study

“…Previous studies using these data showed that when followed up in mid-life, men with higher intelligence in early adulthood were less likely to be current smokers or binge drinkers, had lower fasting blood concentrations of glucose and total cholesterol, lower BMI18 and lower levels of the inflammatory marker, ESR 19. These observations are consistent with findings in some other cohorts linking higher intelligence with a more favourable cardiovascular risk factor profile later in life, in terms of smoking,20 21 blood pressure22 23 and BMI 23–25.…”

Premature Immunosenescence Is Associated with Memory Dysfunction in Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…Persistent inflammation may also contribute to cognitive decline [33,34] and systemic inflammation has been observed to increase with advancing age in humans (known as ‘inflammaging') [33]. Indeed, some studies have previously demonstrated the presence of low-grade inflammation and reduced cognitive performance [7,33,35,36]. Komulainen et al [7], in a follow-up study on elderly women, found that elevated serum concentrations of high-sensitivity CRP can predict an increased risk for memory impairment and eventually dementia.…”

The association between systemic inflammation and cognitive performance in the elderly: the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

“…For example, a 5-year longitudinal study found high IL-6 levels predicted cognitive decline (Schram et al 2007); in contrast, a 3-year longitudinal study failed to show any predictive influence of IL-6 levels (Dik et al 2005). Other studies have suggested that it is the cognitive ability that predicts the level of inflammation, with low cognitive ability in childhood or early adulthood predicting high levels of systemic inflammation in middle or old age (Luciano et al 2009;Phillips et al 2011).…”