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Brains of people with high glucose levels and inflammation can age faster, increasing their risk of developing dementia, according to a study. 

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden used an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to analyse brain images from 739 cognitively healthy people aged 70-years to explore the brain’s biological age.

They found various risk and health factors that determine the speed at which the brain ages.

The study, presented in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, showed that diabetes, stroke, cerebral small vessel disease, and inflammation were linked to brains with an older appearance,

On the other hand, healthy lifestyles involving regular exercise were linked to brains with a younger appearance, the study added.

The team conducted MRI scans of the participant’s brains and then estimated the age of the resulting brain images using their AI-based algorithm. Further, blood samples were taken for measuring lipids, glucose, and inflammation; and their cognitive abilities were also tested.

The AI tool estimated the brain age for both sexes to be on average 71 years. The researchers then looked at the ”brain age gap” by subtracting the participants' estimated biological brain age from their chronological age.

“A take-home from the study is that factors that adversely affect the blood vessels can also be related to older-looking brains,” said lead author Anna Marseglia, a researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.

This “shows how important it is to keep your blood vessels healthy, to protect your brain, by making sure, for instance, that your blood glucose level is kept stable,” Marseglia added.

The team next aims to launch a study to understand how women and men may differ in how they build resilience,