Even the smallest heart issues may raise dementia risk, new study finds

• Over the last few years, research has shown a potential link between cardiovascular health and brain health.
• Past studies have linked cardiovascular conditions like heart failure to an increased risk for dementia.
• A new study found even minor cardiac dysfunction could possibly predict microscopic tissue deterioration in the brain regions closely linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Over the last few years, research has shown a potential link between cardiovascular health and brain health.

Past studies have linked cardiovascular conditions like coronary heart disease, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation to cognitive impairment and an increased risk for dementia.

And certain heart health-related conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and type 2 diabetes are considered to be modifiable risk factors for dementia.

“Heart health is one of those potentially modifiable areas,” Xia Zhang, a doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany, told Medical News Today.

“Cardiac function is already measured in routine clinical care, so if we better understand how heart dysfunction is related to brain changes, we may eventually be able to identify people who need closer monitoring or earlier prevention,” Zhang explained.

She is the lead author of a new study published in JNeurosci – The Journal of Neuroscience which found that even minor cardiac dysfunction, such as people without doctor-diagnosed heart failure, could predict microscopic tissue deterioration in the brain regions closely linked to a type of dementia known as Alzheimer’s disease.