Impaired Kidneys Linked to Memory Loss

U.S. researchers linked poor kidney function to a more rapid rate of decline in cognition in the elderly.

Dr. Aron Buchman of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago said the cognitive decline -- not in visuospatial ability or perceptual speed, but in episodic, semantic and working memory -- occurred at a rate of decline equivalent to that of a person seven years older at baseline.

"Given the dearth of modifiable risk factors for age-related cognitive decline, these results have important public health implications," Buchman said in a statement.

"Further work to understand the link between kidney function and the brain may provide new strategies for preventing memory loss in elders."

Buchman hypothesized that underlying vascular problems -- such as diabetes and hypertension -- may account for the association between kidney problems and cognitive decline.

The study, published in Neurology, analyzed data for 886 older adults in the Rush Memory and Aging Project -- a community of seniors with a mean age of 81 who were initially free of dementia and tested annually on cognitive function.