Early Heart Disease Linked to Poor Brain Health

Highlights:

Cardiovascular disorders, such as heart disease and stroke, have been linked to an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in the elderly
Researchers have now found that people who have a heart attack or a stroke in their 40s or 50s are more likely to develop memory and thinking issues later in life
Cardiovascular diseases may contribute to those impairments for a variety of causes, including decreased blood supply to the brain

People with early cardiovascular disease may be more likely to have memory and thinking impairments, as well as poorer brain function in middle age, revealed new research published on January 25, 2023, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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‘A person's 20s and 30s are critical years to start safeguarding brain health through cardiovascular disease prevention and intervention.’

Heart Diseases are Linked with Poor Brain Health

“Cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke have been associated with an increased risk for cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults, but less is known about how having these diseases before age 60 impacts cognition and brain health throughout life,” said the study author Xiaqing Jiang, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco. “Our study found that cardiovascular events earlier in life are associated with worse cognition, accelerated cognitive decline and poor brain health in middle age.”

The study included 3,146 participants. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 30 at the start of the study and were followed for up to 30 years. They were 55 years old on average by the end of the study.

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What is Early Cardiovascular Disease

Early cardiovascular disease was defined as having coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, carotid artery disease, or peripheral arterial disease before the age of 60 in 147 of the total participants, or 5%. A first cardiovascular episode occurred at an average age of 48.

Participants were given five cognitive tests after being observed for three decades. Global cognition, processing speed, executive function, delayed verbal memory, and verbal fluency were all tested in the assessments.

On five out of five tests, people with early cardiovascular disease fared worse than those who did not. In a 10-minute recall test with scores ranging from zero to 15, people with early cardiovascular disease outperformed those without, with an average score of 6.4 vs an average score of 8.5. In a global cognitive exam with a score range of zero to 30, those with early cardiovascular disease had an average score of 21.4, whereas those without the cardiovascular disease had an average score of 23.9. A score of 26 or more is regarded as usual, whereas a score of 22 is considered ordinary for those with mild cognitive impairment.

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Cognitive Decline Associated with Early Heart Disease

Researchers discovered that early cardiovascular disease was associated with a three times greater likelihood of accelerated cognitive decline over five years in participants who had two sets of cognitive tests 25 and 30 years into the study, with 13% of people with early cardiovascular disease experiencing accelerated cognitive decline compared to 5% of people who did not have the disease.

“Our research suggests that a person’s 20s and 30s are a crucial time to begin protecting brain health through cardiovascular disease prevention and intervention,” Jiang said. “Preventing these diseases may delay the onset of cognitive decline and promote a healthier brain throughout life.”

One disadvantage of the study is that cognitive tests were not administered at the start.

Source-Medindia

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