Have you ever seen your grandparents forget where they kept their glasses? Or maybe they forgot the name of their favorite movie.
This is known as cognitive decline, and it often happens as people get older.
Cognitive decline affects our ability to remember things, solve problems, and understand information. But did you know that fat in our muscles might be connected to this memory problem?
Our Body’s Composition: More Than Meets the Eye
Let’s learn a bit more about our bodies. Our bodies have different types of tissues. One of them is muscle.
Muscles help us move, lift things, and even blink our eyes! Inside our muscles, we store a little bit of fat. This is called muscle adiposity.
The Surprising Connection: Muscle Fat and Memory
In a new research study, scientists found that the amount of fat stored in our muscles might tell us if we’ll have problems with memory and thinking as we age.
They looked at a group of older adults between 69 and 79 years old. They measured the fat in their muscles twice—once at the start of the study, and then again five years later.
They also checked how well these people could remember things and solve problems five times over ten years.
The Results: More Muscle Fat, More Memory Problems
The results were surprising. The people who had more fat in their muscles after five years had more problems with memory and thinking.
This was true even when the scientists took into account other things that can affect memory, like age, weight, muscle strength, or other health conditions.
What’s even more interesting is that the amount of muscle fat seemed to affect memory in the same way for everyone, no matter their gender or race.
The Unanswered Questions: Fat and the Brain
Dr. Caterina Rosano, one of the scientists involved in the study, said that muscle fat might have a special role in how our memory changes as we get older.
This role is different from the roles of other types of fat in our bodies, or other muscle characteristics.
But scientists still have a lot of questions. They don’t yet understand how muscle fat and the brain interact, or “talk” to each other.
They also want to find out if reducing the amount of fat in our muscles can lower the risk of memory problems as we get older.
This study shows us that our bodies are very complex, and everything is connected.
It also reminds us that staying active and keeping our muscles healthy is important—not just for our physical strength, but also for our memory and thinking abilities!
If you care about muscle, please read studies that animal protein is better for aging muscles than plant protein, and these vitamins could help reduce bone fracture risk.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about common plant nutrients that could help reduce high blood pressure, and results showing Krill oil could improve muscle health in older people.
The study was published in the International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders.
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