Brain HealthHaving Multiple Chronic Diseases Accelerates Brain Aging in Older Adults
A community-based study of over 1,100 older Chinese adults found that carrying multiple chronic diseases simultaneously is linked to a greater brain-age gap — meaning the brain appears biologically older than a person's actual age. Using an AI tool called DeepBrainNet to estimate brain age from structural MRI data, researchers found that the more chronic conditions a person had, the more their brain aged beyond their calendar years. Clusters involving cerebrovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and other conditions like anemia and hearing loss were especially linked to accelerated brain aging. These findings suggest that managing cardiometabolic health earlier in life may be one of the most important levers for preserving brain youth — even before dementia sets in.
