Leigh A. Johnson, Ph.D.
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12503/31190
Member, Institute for Healthy Aging
Assistant Professor, Institute for Translational Research
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Neuroscience
Email: Leigh.Johnson@unthsc.edu
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Browsing Leigh A. Johnson, Ph.D. by Subject "cardiovascular risk factors"
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Item Association of Area Deprivation Index and hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study of the HABS-HD Cohort(Sage Publications, 2023-06-26) Vintimilla, Raul; Seyedahmadi, Armin; Hall, James R.; Johnson, Leigh A.; O'Bryant, Sid E.; Team, HABS-HD StudyObjective: This study aims to investigate the association between neighborhood deprivation and the prevalence of major cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity) in a Mexican American (MA) population compared to NonHispanic Whites (NHW). Method: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to include 1,867 subjects (971 MA and 896 NHW). Participants underwent a clinical interview, neuropsychological exam battery, functional examination, MRI of the head, amyloid PET scan, and blood draw for clinical and biomarker analysis. We use the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) Model to assign an ADI score to participants based on their neighborhoods. Descriptive, Cochran-Armitage test for trend, and odds ratio statistical analysis were applied. Results: Our results suggest that NHW had higher odds of having HTN, DM, and obesity in the most deprived neighborhoods, while MA showed no increased odds. The study also found that neighborhood deprivation contributed to diabetes in both MA and NHW and was associated with obesity in NHW. Conclusions: These findings highlighted the importance of addressing both individual and societal factors in efforts to reduce cardiovascular risk. Future research should explore the relationship between socio-economic status and cardiovascular risk in more detail to inform the development of targeted interventions.Item Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Cognitive Dysfunction, and Mild Cognitive Impairment(S. Karger AG, 2020-11-16) Vintimilla, Raul; Balasubramanian, Kishore; Hall, James R.; Johnson, Leigh A.; O'Bryant, Sid E.Objectives: The present study sought to evaluate the contribution of cardiovascular risk factors to cognitive functioning in a sample of Mexican Americans diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity were diagnosed based on self-report and/or standardized procedures. Cognitive function was measured with MMSE, Logical Memory I and II, Trail A & B, FAS, animal naming, and digit span tests. Independent samples t tests and two-way ANOVAs were conducted for analyses, adjusting for relevant covariates. We studied 100 Mexican Americans (65 female) with MCI, ages 50-86, from a longitudinal study of cognitive aging conducted at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Results: A difference between subjects with and without obesity and memory scores was shown by t tests. Two-way ANOVAs detected an association between the coexistence of hypertension and diabetes with language measures, diabetes and dyslipidemia with executive function, and diabetes and obesity with memory and language measures. Conclusions: This study provides additional evidence about the link between cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive dysfunction in MCI subjects, and also demonstrated that comorbid risk factors increased the degree of cognitive deficit in many areas, which may indicate a higher risk of developing dementia.Item MRI biomarkers of small vessel disease and cognition: A cross-sectional study of a cognitively normal Mexican American cohort(Wiley Periodicals, LLC, 2021-10-14) Vintimilla, Raul; Hall, James R.; King, Kevin; Braskie, Meredith N.; Johnson, Leigh A.; Yaffe, Kristine; Toga, Arthur W.; O'Bryant, Sid E.Background: The current project sought to evaluate the impact that white matter hyperintensities (WMH) have on executive function in cognitively normal Mexican Americans, an underserved population with onset and more rapid progression of dementia. Methods: Data from 515 participants (360 female) enrolled in the Health and Aging Brain Study: Health Disparities project were analyzed. Participants underwent clinical evaluation, cognitive testing, and a brain MRI. Linear regression was used to predict the effect of total WMH volume on cognitive test scores. Age, sex, and education were entered as covariates. Results: Regression analysis showed that WMH volume significantly predicted executive function. WMH also predicted global cognition and attention scores, although not significantly after adjusting for age. Conclusion: In this sample of cognitively normal Mexican Americans, we found that WMH volume was associated with lower scores in a measure of executive function, after accounting for age, sex, and education.