Persistent financial struggles have been linked to faster brain ageing, a new study has revealed.

The study found that there was a pronounced impact on men, individuals from disadvantaged childhoods and those with a greater genetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers suggest that supporting those facing financial hardship and reducing poverty could be crucial in preventing future dementia cases.

The findings, published in the journal Innovations in Aging, come from UCL experts who analysed data from 2,759 people in the UK.

Participants in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (the 1946 British cohort study) had their household income recorded at ages 26, 43, and 53.

People were classed as having persistent low income if they were in the bottom 20% at least twice, which included about one in six taking part in the study.

Hardship included struggling to manage on their income or having trouble paying bills.

The study found that people who experienced persistent money struggles or poverty in early and middle adulthood performed worse on cognitive tests at age 53.

And among people who had brain scans, analysis showed those who had lower incomes had worse brain health by 69 to 71.

The link was stronger in men, those who had poorer childhoods and people with a genetic variant which raises the risk of Alzheimer’s.

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Dr Jacques Wels, of the unit for lifelong health and ageing at UCL, said: “Most studies on cognitive ageing look at financial hardship at only a single point in time.

“Our study using several decades of data allows us to see that it is the accumulation of hardship over many years that is linked to the worst cognitive health outcomes, rather than occasional episodes of adversity.”

The link could be down to money troubles impacting the “bandwidth” in parts of the brain that process the likes of attention and decision-making, the study suggests.

Those facing persistent financial problems in adulthood may place chronic stress on the systems involved in cognitive processing, leading to impairments over time.

Researchers said that, “given the current climate of cost-of-living crisis where a record number of households are reporting financial adversity,” the findings “further illustrate the importance of supporting vulnerable households”.

Professor Praveetha Patalay, also of UCL, added: “Our findings suggest that supporting people facing financial hardship and reducing chronic poverty could also help prevent cognitive decline and dementia cases in the future.”

Reacting to the findings, Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This study is a reminder that dementia is not just a health issue, but a social and economic one too.

“It adds to growing evidence that the factors shaping our brain health begin long before any symptoms of dementia appear.

“While there is no guaranteed way to prevent dementia, research suggests that around 45% of cases globally could potentially be delayed or prevented by addressing modifiable risk factors.

“This means helping people to live healthier lives, whilst also tackling the wider inequalities that shape brain health.

“Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer, yet it still isn’t treated as the public health issue it should be. If we want to reduce the number of people affected, we must address both the factors that increase dementia risk and ensure everyone has access to the support needed after diagnosis.”

It has been a long road for President Donald Trump as he looks for a justification to erect a tariff wall around the US, including against key allies.

From the opioid crisis to illegal migration, then the need to bring manufacturing back to America’s shores, the list goes on.

Through Trump’s second term, there has been a new justification almost every month for the trade levies he is seeking to place on allies.

Some have been overturned by the courts, others by economics and some even by their own logic. And so, Trump has now turned to effectively accusing dozens of trade partners of trading in goods that have been produced using forced labour.

These are “tariffs in search of an authority”, as one industry figure put it. The forced labour line shores up President Trump’s tariffs against a challenge from Congress or the courts.

In practice, the levies are curiously similar by country to a previous round of tariffs imposed supposedly for completely different reasons.

The good news for the UK is that the regime effectively remains the same as before.

What has changed is that our nearest neighbours in the European Union now have a much better deal than before, and in turn are in a better situation than the UK.

While the UK and the EU each appear to have a 10% rate, the EU’s is a flat rate, while the UK’s will apply alongside other tariffs, in a range of goods including footwear and textiles.

The government has struck effective side deals on medicines, steel, aluminium, cars and, with the help of King Charles, whisky.

At the end of this process however the overall trade-weighted effective tariff rate for the EU (8.5%) could end up a bit lower than the UK’s (6.8%).

It should not matter that much, but the help given by doing the first deal, and by post-Brexit trade freedoms, looks to have been short-lived.

The British Chambers of Commerce trade expert William Bain points to the competitive advantage for EU exporters into the US in some sectors.

The EU has secured better treatment because it has passed a ban on forced labour goods, which the UK has not.

This is not an accusation on the use of forced labour in supply chains. It is about the passing of specific legislation, mirroring the US ban on products that have used forced labour in supply chains.