People who smoke or have diabetes may be at a greater risk of calcifications in a region of the crucial brain for memory, the hippocampus, according to a new study whose conclusions are detailed in an article published in the digital edition of the magazine ‘Radiology‘.

Dementia is an important public health problem that affects dozens of millions of people worldwide and one of the dementia research foci has been the hippocampus, an important brain structure for the storage of memories both in short andlong term.Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia, is associated with the atrophy of that area of ​​the brain.

Researchers have raised the hypothesis that abnormal accumulations of calcium or calcifications in the hippocampus may be related to vascular problems that could contribute to the atrophy of the hippocampus and the subsequent cognitive deterioration.However, the published research on the association between the calcification of the hippocampus and the cognitive impairment is limited.

"We know that the calcifications in that area are common, especially as age increases," says the main author of the study, Esther J.M.De Brouwer, Geriatrica at the University Center of the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands."However, we did not know if the calcifications in the hippocampus were related to cognitive function," he adds.

Advances in images have provided opportunities to explore the role of calcifications in that area of ​​the brain in dementia.The development of computerized cerebral tomographies has allowed the better to distinguish between the calcifications of the hippocampus and the calcifications in the nearby brain structures, such as the choroid plexus.

"A multiplican computerized tomography allows you to see the hippocampus in different anatomical planes, for example, from top to bottom, from right to left and from front to back," says Brouwer.Before the multiplican TC explorations, hippocampus calcifications were often confused with the calcifications of the Coroideo plexus.Therefore, with multipanar TC explorations, hippocampus calcifications are better distinguished from calcifications in other areas. ”

Dr. Bruwer and his colleagues studied the association between vascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking, and calcifications.The team also evaluated the effects of calcifications on cognitive function.

The study group included 1,991 patients, with an average age of 78 years, who had visited a memory clinic in a Dutch hospital between 2009 and 2015. Patients had been made to patients a standard diagnostic study that included cognitive tests and tomographiesCerebral computerized.The researchers analyzed the computerized tomographs to determine the presence and severity of the calcifications of that area of ​​the brain.

Of the 1,991 patients, 380, or 19.1 percent, showed hippocampus calcifications.Advanced age, diabetes and smoking were linked with a higher risk of hippocampus calcifications in computerized tomographs.Although the study was not designed to conclude if smoking and diabetes increase the risk of hippocampus calcifications, the results strongly suggest a link.

"We believe that smoking and diabetes are risk factors," says Brouwer.In a recent histopathological study, it was discovered that hippocampus calcifications were a manifestation of vascular disease.It is well known that smoking and diabetes are risk factors for cardiovascular disease.Therefore, diabetes is likely to be the risk factors of calcifications of thehippocampus".

There was no link between the presence and severity of calcifications and cognitive function;A surprising finding - according to Brouwer - with several possible explanations."The hippocampus consists of different layers, and it is possible that the calcifications do not damage the structure that is important for memory storage," he says.Another explanation could be the selection of the participants of our study, all from a memory clinic. ”