Eating Fatty Food Days Before Surgery May Impair Memory
The feeling fades, but not for everyone – some people also experience an abrupt decline in brain function post-op that can last weeks to months.
A new animal study suggests that eating fatty foods in the days before surgery could make the inflammatory processes linked to that cognitive decline worse, prolonging the memory difficulties that in humans, can lead to an increased risk of dementia.
Past research in humans has shown that fatty foods alone can hasten cognitive decline which is usually associated with aging, by triggering inflammation. Even the occasional sugary treat or fatty feast can impact brain function, other animal studies show.
In the new study from a team of researchers at Ohio State University, rats fed fatty foods for just three days before surgery showed persistent signs of memory deficits lasting up to two weeks. This was accompanied by a rush of inflammation in the brain, which lingered for three weeks.
“These data suggest that these multiple insults have a compounding effect,” says behavioral neuroscientist Ruth Barrientos of Ohio State University.
“The high-fat diet alone might increase inflammation in the brain just a little bit, but then you have surgery that does the same thing, and when put together in a short amount of time you get a synergistic response that can set things in motion toward a longer-term memory issue.”
