Showing posts with label cognitive risks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cognitive risks. Show all posts
Saturday, August 15, 2026
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Gut Bacteria, Food Insecurity, and Cognitive Risk Intertwined
Will your competent? doctor ensure the dietician addresses this problem and corrects it while in the hospital?
Gut Bacteria, Food Insecurity, and Cognitive Risk Intertwined
Summary: A new study highlights how food insecurity may intensify the relationship between gut microbiome imbalances and cognitive impairment in adults. Analyzing data from 360 participants, researchers found specific bacterial “cliques” linked to poor cognitive outcomes, especially among those with limited access to nutritious food.
Food insecurity itself was also independently associated with lower gut diversity and diminished brain function. These findings reveal a complex biological and social interplay influencing cognitive health and call for integrated interventions targeting both nutrition and microbiome balance.
Key Facts:
- Gut-Brain Link: Imbalanced gut microbiota, especially in low-diversity ecosystems, correlates with higher risk of cognitive impairment.
- Food Insecurity’s Role: Food insecurity intensified the association between specific microbial groups and poor cognitive function.
- Intervention Implication: Tailoring microbiome-targeted therapies by food security status could enhance dementia prevention strategies.
Source: Mount Sinai Hospital
A new study led in part by Mount Sinai researchers has found a compelling link between the composition of the gut microbiome and the risk of cognitive impairment (RCI) in adults, underscoring the complex role that both biology and social determinants—such as food insecurity—play in brain health.
This is the first epidemiologic study to assess the modifying role that food insecurity may play on the relationship between the gut microbiome and RCI.
Published in NPJ Aging, this study investigated the role of food insecurity as an effect modifier between specific groups of microbes in the gut microbiome and RCI. The research shows that adults with lower microbial diversity and specific imbalances in gut bacteria were significantly more likely to experience cognitive impairment.
The analysis also found that food insecurity—limited or uncertain access to adequate food—was independently associated with both poorer gut health and diminished cognitive performance.
“More than 12 percent (17.0 million) of U.S. households in 2022 experienced food insecurity at some point throughout the year, showing an increase from the 10.2 percent (13.5 million) prevalence in 2021,” said Shoshannah Eggers, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, University of Iowa College of Public Health, and corresponding author on this study. Dr. Eggers began working on this study while a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
“Food insecurity is consistently linked to adverse health outcomes such as poorer overall health and adverse neurological health outcomes. Understanding how gut health and social conditions interact gives us a fuller picture of what puts people at risk for cognitive decline,” said Dr. Eggers, who also serves as co-director of the Microbial Exposomics Lab and an associate member of the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center at the University of Iowa College of Public Health.
The study included 360 adult participants from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin with complete data on food insecurity, RCI, and 16S rRNA sequencing—a test to figure out which bacteria are present in a stool sample.
Small groups of closely connected microbes (known as microbial cliques) associated with RCI were identified using an interpretable machine-learning-based algorithm—a type of machine learning model that not only makes predictions or decisions but also lets researchers understand how and why it made those predictions.
All analyses were stratified by food insecurity level and adjusted for relevant confounders, like age, body mass index, and smoking.
The researchers identified two cliques whose associations with RCI were modified by food insecurity status. The presence of the clique with either Eisenbergiella or Eubacterium was more strongly associated with RCI for the food-insecure group.
A clique representing the presence of Ruminococcus torques, Bacteroides, CAG-352F, and/or Eubacterium had a stronger association with RCI for the food-secure group.
The contrasting results between food-secure and food-insecure groups may be particularly important while devising microbial interventions for cognitive impairment, as food security status may alter the effectiveness of such interventions.
“These findings suggest that food insecurity is not just a socioeconomic issue—it may be a biological one too, influencing brain health via changes to the gut microbiome,” said Vishal Midya, PhD, MStat, Assistant Professor of Environmental Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and senior author of the study.
“Cognitive impairment, including mild cognitive impairment and dementia, is increasing, particularly among older adults, and is primarily driven by an aging population. Future studies investigating why cognitive problems develop in people should consider food insecurity as one possible contributing factor.”
The study calls for more integrated public health approaches that address both nutritional access and gut health. It also opens the door for future interventions combining dietary support and microbiome-targeted therapies to reduce the risk of dementia, particularly in vulnerable populations.
Funding: This research was supported by grant funding by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
About this microbiome and cognition research news
Author: Laura Ruocco-Duran
Source: Mount Sinai Hospital
Contact: Laura Ruocco-Duran – Mount Sinai Hospital
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Gut Microbiome Composition and Food Insecurity Linked to Risk of Cognitive Impairment in Adults” by Shoshannah Eggers et al. npj Aging
Monday, April 18, 2016
Brain scans link physical changes to cognitive risks of widely used class of drugs
I'm sure your doctor has this covered already in your stroke protocols. You wouldn't want to have any further cognitive problems after your stroke?
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-04-brain-scans-link-physical-cognitive.html
Older adults might want to avoid a using class of drugs commonly used in over-the-counter products such as nighttime cold medicines due to their links to cognitive impairment, a research team led by scientists at Indiana University School of Medicine has recommended.
Using brain imaging techniques, the researchers found lower metabolism and reduced brain sizes among study participants taking the drugs known to have an anticholinergic effect, meaning they block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter.
Previous research found a link between between the anticholinergic drugs and cognitive impairment and increased risk of dementia. The new paper published in the journal JAMA Neurology, is believed to be the first to study the potential underlying biology of those clinical links using neuroimaging measurements of brain metabolism and atrophy.
"These findings provide us with a much better understanding of how this class of drugs may act upon the brain in ways that might raise the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia," said Shannon Risacher, Ph.D., assistant professor of radiology and imaging sciences, first author of the paper, "Association Between Anticholinergic Medication Use and Cognition, Brain Metabolism, and Brain Atrophy in Cognitively Normal Older Adults."
"Given all the research evidence, physicians might want to consider alternatives to anticholinergic medications if available when working with their older patients," Dr. Risacher said.
Drugs with anticholinergic effects are sold over the counter and by prescription as sleep aids and for many chronic diseases including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A list of anticholinergic drugs and their potential impact is at http://www.agingbraincare.org/uploads/products/ACB_scale_-_legal_size.pdf. Check this out.
Scientists have linked anticholinergic drugs cognitive problems among older adults for at least 10 years. A 2013 study by scientists at the IU Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute found that drugs with a strong anticholinergic effect cause cognitive problems when taken continuously for as few as 60 days. Drugs with a weaker effect could cause impairment within 90 days.
The current research project involved 451 participants, 60 of whom were taking at least one medication with medium or high anticholinergic activity. The participants were drawn from a national Alzheimer's research project—the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative—and the Indiana Memory and Aging Study.
To identify possible physical and physiological changes that could be associated with the reported effects, researchers assessed the results of memory and other cognitive tests, positron emission tests (PET) measuring brain metabolism, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for brain structure.
The cognitive tests revealed that patients taking anticholinergic drugs performed worse than older adults not taking the drugs on short-term memory and some tests of executive function, which cover a range of activities such as verbal reasoning, planning, and problem solving.
Anticholinergic drug users also showed lower levels of glucose metabolism—a biomarker for brain activity—in both the overall brain and in the hippocampus, a region of the brain associated with memory and which has been identified as affected early by Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers also found significant links between brain structure revealed by the MRI scans and anticholinergic drug use, with the participants using anticholinergic drugs having reduced brain volume and larger ventricles, the cavities inside the brain.
"These findings might give us clues to the biological basis for the cognitive problems associated with anticholinergic drugs, but additional studies are needed if we are to truly understand the mechanisms involved," Dr. Risacher said.
Explore further:
Using anticholinergics for as few as 60 days causes memory problems in older adults
Journal reference:
Archives of Neurology
Provided by: Indiana University
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-04-brain-scans-link-physical-cognitive.html
Older adults might want to avoid a using class of drugs commonly used in over-the-counter products such as nighttime cold medicines due to their links to cognitive impairment, a research team led by scientists at Indiana University School of Medicine has recommended.
Using brain imaging techniques, the researchers found lower metabolism and reduced brain sizes among study participants taking the drugs known to have an anticholinergic effect, meaning they block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter.
Previous research found a link between between the anticholinergic drugs and cognitive impairment and increased risk of dementia. The new paper published in the journal JAMA Neurology, is believed to be the first to study the potential underlying biology of those clinical links using neuroimaging measurements of brain metabolism and atrophy.
"These findings provide us with a much better understanding of how this class of drugs may act upon the brain in ways that might raise the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia," said Shannon Risacher, Ph.D., assistant professor of radiology and imaging sciences, first author of the paper, "Association Between Anticholinergic Medication Use and Cognition, Brain Metabolism, and Brain Atrophy in Cognitively Normal Older Adults."
"Given all the research evidence, physicians might want to consider alternatives to anticholinergic medications if available when working with their older patients," Dr. Risacher said.
Drugs with anticholinergic effects are sold over the counter and by prescription as sleep aids and for many chronic diseases including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A list of anticholinergic drugs and their potential impact is at http://www.agingbraincare.org/uploads/products/ACB_scale_-_legal_size.pdf. Check this out.
Scientists have linked anticholinergic drugs cognitive problems among older adults for at least 10 years. A 2013 study by scientists at the IU Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute found that drugs with a strong anticholinergic effect cause cognitive problems when taken continuously for as few as 60 days. Drugs with a weaker effect could cause impairment within 90 days.
The current research project involved 451 participants, 60 of whom were taking at least one medication with medium or high anticholinergic activity. The participants were drawn from a national Alzheimer's research project—the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative—and the Indiana Memory and Aging Study.
To identify possible physical and physiological changes that could be associated with the reported effects, researchers assessed the results of memory and other cognitive tests, positron emission tests (PET) measuring brain metabolism, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for brain structure.
The cognitive tests revealed that patients taking anticholinergic drugs performed worse than older adults not taking the drugs on short-term memory and some tests of executive function, which cover a range of activities such as verbal reasoning, planning, and problem solving.
Anticholinergic drug users also showed lower levels of glucose metabolism—a biomarker for brain activity—in both the overall brain and in the hippocampus, a region of the brain associated with memory and which has been identified as affected early by Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers also found significant links between brain structure revealed by the MRI scans and anticholinergic drug use, with the participants using anticholinergic drugs having reduced brain volume and larger ventricles, the cavities inside the brain.
"These findings might give us clues to the biological basis for the cognitive problems associated with anticholinergic drugs, but additional studies are needed if we are to truly understand the mechanisms involved," Dr. Risacher said.
Explore further:
Using anticholinergics for as few as 60 days causes memory problems in older adults
Provided by: Indiana University
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