In a new study from Vanderbilt University, researchers found that greater stiffening of the aorta, the main artery in the human body, is associated with increased Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk in older adults.
These results have major implications for Alzheimer’s disease prevention.
While there may be no single cause of Alzheimer’s, a range of neurochemical indicators are thought to define not only AD core pathology and the ultimate progression of the disease, but also AD risk in asymptomatic patients.
Previous studies have found links between aortic stiffness and two of these AD biomarkers—increased amyloid-beta and deposits of phosphorylated tau.
In the study, the researchers examined 146 patients aged 60 to 90 who were free of dementia and neurological disease.
They discovered three new associations between aortic stiffness and biomarkers thought to be implicated in AD.
They found new links between greater arterial stiffness and biomarkers of inflammation, synaptic injury, neurofibrillary tangles and neurodegeneration, all pathological processes that are present in Alzheimer’s disease.
While it’s long been understood that age-related arterial stiffening carries the risk of events like heart attack and stroke, more recent studies have found links to cognitive impairment, changes in brain structure and cerebral small vessel disease.
Previous studies have found increased aortic stiffness and reduced cardiac output to be linked to decreased cerebral blood flow and increased risk of cognitive decline.
This study adds new evidence that vascular risk factors may also contribute to the pathology that drives core Alzheimer’s disease.
If you care about Alzheimer’s disease, please read studies about a new way to detect Alzheimer’s disease 5 years before its onset and findings of the lack of this stuff could be the key to Alzheimer’s disease.
For more information about Alzheimer’s and your health, please see recent studies about the root cause of Alzheimer’s disease and results showing a blood test for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.
The study is published in Neurology. One author of the study is Angela Jefferson, Ph.D.
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