Delhi Delhi. A study has found that the aging brain may be responsible for cognitive problems in people with sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disorder characterized by the presence of abnormal hemoglobin (Hb). The disease Sufferers may also have trouble remembering, concentrating, learning and problem-solving.
Patients face these conditions even without brain trauma. To understand this, researchers and physicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis examined more than 200 young adults with and without sickle cell disease. They participated in brain MRI scans and cognitive tests. Each person's brain age was calculated using a brain-age prediction tool, which was developed using MRI brain scans from a diverse group of more than 14,000 healthy people of known age.
The estimated brain age was compared to the person's actual age. The results, published in JAMA Network Open, showed that the brains of participants with sickle cell disease appeared an average of 14 years older than their actual age. Sickle cell participants with older-looking brains also scored lower on cognitive tests.
Additionally, the study showed that people experiencing economic deprivation, who struggle to meet basic needs even in the absence of sickle cell disease, also had brains that appeared to age more, the team said. An average of seven years difference was found between the brain age of healthy individuals who experienced it and the actual age of the participants. “Sickle cell disease is congenital, which continuously deprives the developing brain of oxygen and may impair its development from birth. Affects.
Additionally, children exposed to chronic economic deprivation and poverty experience cognitive challenges that impact their academic performance,” explained Andrea Ford, MD, professor of neurology at Washington University Medicine. The study links sickle cell disease and economic deprivation. Understanding the effects of AD on brain structure may lead to treatments and preventive measures that could potentially preserve cognitive function, the team noted. a single for MRI scans can be a powerful tool.
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