Abstract
Our anti-aging center (AAC) began providing health check-up services to local citizens in western Japan in February 2006.
Dementia, which is characterized by a progressive decline in cognitive function, is a major concern in aging societies. Although a number of treatments have been approved, an effective treatment for the disease has yet to appear. At this stage, early detection of cognitive decline is essential for disease prevention. The condition of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was first described in 1999 as a common disorder of aging that increases the risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and patients with MCI progress to dementia at an annual rate of 15.0%. Shankle et al demonstrated that it is feasible to apply the most sensitive MCI screening tests in community healthcare settings. Using this test, AAC published two manuscripts in 2017. These are as follows:
1) Skin autofluorescence examination as a diagnostic tool for MCI in healthy people.
The pathogenesis of AD is thought to involve the accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). We found an association between accumulation of AGEs estimated by skin autofluorescence and MCI, which was independent of brain atrophy, in healthy subjects.
2) A cross-sectional study of equol producer status and cognitive impairment in elderly.
It is well known that consumption of isoflavones reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the effectiveness of isoflavones in preventing dementia is controversial. One possible reason is that the ability to produce equol, a metabolite of a soy isoflavone, differs greatly in individuals. In addition to existing data, we sought to confirm whether an apparent beneficial effect in cognitive function is observed after soy consumption in equol producers compared with non-producers.
In this study, compared with equol non-producers, equol producers showed an apparent beneficial effect in cognitive function in after soy intake.
