According to a recent study, conducted by the researchers of the University of Kuopio in Finland and Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland, California, risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, later in life, is higher for people who have even slightly high cholesterol levels in their early to mid-40s.

The conclusion - published in the journal Dementia & Geriatric Cognitive Disorders - was based on the 1964-1973 study of almost 10,000 northern California residents aged 40-45, who were observed for four decades.

Statistically speaking, those people who had moderately elevated cholesterol - a reading of 240 or more - faced a 66 percent greater risk of Alzheimer's disease; vis-à-vis a 52 percent risk faced by people who had lower cholesterol levels - a reading between 200 and 239.

The researchers found that nearly 600 people had developed either Alzheimer's disease or a related condition, called vascular dementia, in 2007, when they were in the 60s to 80s age group.

Commenting on the findings, the study's co-author Rachel A. Whitmer, of Kaiser, remarked: "People tend to think of the brain and the heart as totally separate, but they are not. We are learning that what is good for the heart is also good for the brain - and that midlife is not too soon to be thinking about risk factors for dementia."