Inflammation linked to lower intelligence, premature death
September 8th, 2010 - 1:19 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Sep 08 (ANI): Swedish scientists have revealed that inflammation is associated with lower intelligence and premature death.
“Those with low-grade inflammation performed more poorly on standardised intelligence tests, even after excluding those with signs of current illness. Inflammation also predicted an increased risk of premature death,” said lead researcher Dr Hakan Karlsson.
The researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden,
used large population-based registers containing data collected over several decades. Inflammation and intelligence were measured at 18-20 years of age in nearly 50,000 young men, and deaths over the following 35 years were recorded.
“Although we knew that inflammation associated with infection or cardiovascular disease could impair brain function, this is the first time that similar associations have been shown in healthy young people,” said Dr Karlsson.
“This suggests that even low levels of inflammation can have detrimental consequences for health and brain function,” he added.
“One interesting possibility is the role of environmental factors during childhood,” he added.
In the current study, childhood socio-economic status predicted the level of inflammation seen in young adulthood. For example, children of farmers had higher levels of inflammation than those whose fathers were non-manual workers.
The research has been published in Brain, Behavior and Immunity. (ANI)
- Drug may help preserve brain function following cardiac arrest - Mar 02, 2011
- Brain insulin plays critical role in development of diabetes - Feb 17, 2011
- Asthmatic kids experience premature loss of lung function later in life - Jan 19, 2011
- Blame your genes for that stammer, says new study - Feb 21, 2011
- Exposure to everyday germs may prevent diseases in adulthood - Dec 09, 2009
- Omega-3 fatty acids good for heart, bad for prostate - Apr 26, 2011
- Poverty in childhood may last a lifetime - Feb 23, 2010
- Why problem drinking during adolescence is never 'just a phase' - Feb 16, 2011
- Happy kids make happy adults - Feb 26, 2011
- Emotional response could predict how your body responds to stress - Feb 18, 2011
- Poor work ability linked to faster deterioration of health - Feb 01, 2011
- Differences in disease risk for men and women start in the womb - May 07, 2010
- Low-fat dairy foods can lower stroke risk - Apr 20, 2012
- High IQ scores as much a measure of motivation as of mental ability - Apr 26, 2011
- Decrease in protein levels could be sign child will develop diabetes - Apr 26, 2011
Tags: 35 years, behavior and immunity, brain behavior and immunity, brain function, cardiovascular disease, detrimental consequences, dr hakan, environmental factors, farmers, inflammation, intelligence tests, karolinska institute in stockholm, premature death, registers, researcher, socio economic status, stockholm sweden, swedish scientists, young adulthood, young men