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Cardiovascular health in young adulthood and structural brain MRI in midlife: The CARDIA study
Michael P Bancks1, Norrina B Allen2, Prachi Dubey2
1From Northwestern University (M.P.B., N.B.A., D.M.L.-J.), Chicago, IL; Mount Sinai Medical Center Radiology (P.D.), Miami Beach, FL; National Institute on Aging (L.J.L.); National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (J.P.R.), Bethesda, MD; Kaiser Permanente Northern California (S.S.), Oakland; University of Mississippi Medical Center (Y.Y.), Jackson; and University of Minnesota (P.J.S.), Minneapolis. michael.bancks@northwestern.edu.
Insights
Maintaining ideal cardiovascular health in young adulthood, as measured by the American Heart Association (AHA) Life's Simple 7 (LS7) metric, is linked to a larger whole brain volume later in life.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cardiovascular Health
- Public Health
Background:
- Cardiovascular health is crucial for overall well-being.
- The American Heart Association (AHA) developed the Life's Simple 7 (LS7) metric to assess cardiovascular health.
- Brain structure and function are influenced by various health factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between cardiovascular health metrics and brain structure.
- To determine if adherence to the AHA Life's Simple 7 (LS7) in young adulthood impacts brain volume in middle age.
Main Methods:
- The study analyzed data from 518 participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) brain MRI substudy.
- Cardiovascular health was assessed using the AHA LS7 at baseline and year 25 follow-up.
- Brain structure, including whole brain volume, gray matter, and white matter, was evaluated using MRI at year 25.
Main Results:
- Higher cardiovascular health scores at baseline and on average were associated with a greater percentage of whole brain volume.
- An increase of one point in the average cardiovascular health score correlated with a 0.2% increase in whole brain volume.
- No significant associations were found between cardiovascular health scores and regional brain volumes (gray or white matter) or abnormal white matter volume.
Conclusions:
- Ideal cardiovascular health in young adulthood, as defined by the LS7, is associated with increased whole brain volume in middle age.
- These findings suggest that early-life cardiovascular health may have long-term implications for brain structure.
- Further research is needed to explore regional brain structure differences.
Objective:
To examine the association between the American Heart Association (AHA) Life's Simple 7 (LS7) metric and brain structure.
Methods:
We determined cardiovascular health (CVH) according to the AHA LS7, assigning 0, 1, or 2 points for meeting poor, intermediate, or ideal criteria for the 7 components (range 0-14) at baseline (aged 18-30 years in 1985-1986) and year 25 follow-up examination for 518 participants of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) brain MRI substudy. Visit-based CVH score and average score was assessed in relation to percent of intracranial volume of normal tissue of the whole brain, gray matter, and white matter, and abnormal tissue volume of white matter at year 25 using multivariable linear, logistic, and quantile regression, after adjustment for age, sex, race, field center, educational attainment, and alcohol consumption.
Results:
Mean percentage of whole brain volume, normal gray matter, and normal white matter was 81.3% (±2.5), 42.9% (±2.0), and 38.4% (±2.0). Greater CVH score at baseline (per each additional point at year 0: 0.1%, 95% confidence limits 0.01-0.3; p < 0.05) and average CVH score were associated with greater percentage of whole brain volume (per each additional point in average score: 0.2%, 95% confidence limits 0.04-0.3; p < 0.05). Visit-based or average CVH score was not significantly associated with normal gray or white matter volume or abnormal white matter volume.
Conclusions:
Maintaining ideal levels of cardiovascular health, determined by the LS7, in young adulthood is associated with greater whole brain volume in middle age but not regional differences in structure.
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