Dietary Iron, Anemia Markers, Cognition, and Quality of Life in Older Community-Dwelling Subjects at High Cardiovascular Risk.
Carolina Donat-VargasVíctor MicóRodrigo San-CristóbalMaría Ángeles MartínezJordi Salas SalvadóDolores CorellaMontserrat FitóÁngel María Alonso-GómezJulia WärnbergJesús VioqueDora RomagueraJosé López-MirandaRamon EstruchMiguel Damas-FuentesJosé LapetraJ LLuís Serra-MajemBueno-Cavanillas AJosep Antonio TurSergio Cinza-SanjurjoXavier PintoMiguel Delgado-RodríguezPilar MatíaJosep VidalClaudia CaussoEmilio RosEstefania Toledo-AtuchaJosep Maria ManzanaresCarolina Ortega-AzorinOlga CastanerPatricia Judith Peña-OrihuelaJuan Manuel ZazoCarlos Muñoz BravoDiego Martinez-UrbistondoAlice ChaplinRosa CasasNaomi Cano-IbánezLucas Tojal-SierraAna María Gómez-PérezElena Pascual Roquet-JalmarCristina MestreRocío BarragánHelmut SchröderAntonio Garcia-RiosInmaculada Candela GarcíaMiguel Ruiz-CanelaNancy Elvira Babio SánchezMireia MalcampoLidia Daimiel RuizAlfredo MartínezPublished in: Nutrients (2023)
Anemia causes hypo-oxygenation in the brain, which could lead to cognitive disorders. We examined dietary iron intake as well as anemia markers (i.e., hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume) and diabetes coexistence in relation to neuropsychological function and quality of life. In this study, 6117 community-dwelling adults aged 55-75 years (men) and 60-75 years (women) with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome were involved. We performed the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Trail Making Test parts A and B (TMT-A/B), Semantic Verbal Fluency of animals (VFT-a), Phonological Verbal Fluency of letter P (VFT-p), Digit Span Test (DST), the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), and the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF36-HRQL test). Dietary iron intake did not influence neuropsychological function or quality of life. However, anemia and lower levels of anemia markers were associated with worse scores in all neurophysiological and SF36-HRQL tests overall, but were especially clear in the MMSE, TMT-B (cognitive flexibility), and the physical component of the SF36-HRQL test. The relationships between anemia and diminished performance in the TMT-A/B and VFT tasks were notably pronounced and statistically significant solely among participants with diabetes. In brief, anemia and reduced levels of anemia markers were linked to inferior cognitive function, worse scores in different domains of executive function, as well as a poorer physical, but not mental, component of quality of life. It was also suggested that the coexistence of diabetes in anemic patients may exacerbate this negative impact on cognition. Nevertheless, dietary iron intake showed no correlation with any of the outcomes. To make conclusive recommendations for clinical practice, our findings need to be thoroughly tested through methodologically rigorous studies that minimize the risk of reverse causality.
Keyphrases
- iron deficiency
- chronic kidney disease
- community dwelling
- end stage renal disease
- metabolic syndrome
- type diabetes
- working memory
- mental health
- physical activity
- cardiovascular disease
- mild cognitive impairment
- weight gain
- clinical practice
- glycemic control
- insulin resistance
- weight loss
- white matter
- newly diagnosed
- ejection fraction
- multiple sclerosis
- body mass index
- skeletal muscle
- emergency department
- adverse drug
- middle aged
- cardiovascular risk factors
- uric acid
- functional connectivity
- drug induced
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- resting state
- blood flow
- red blood cell