A new study from the University of Minnesota found a link between heart health and dementia.
Using echocardiography—visual ultrasound of the heart—the team was able to identify novel measures that are linked to higher dementia risk.
They found atrial myopathy, a condition characterized by abnormal left atrial function and size, is a big factor for dementia. Lower left atrial function was associated with a higher risk of dementia.
Atrial myopathy is typically caused by insults such as aging, inflammation, oxidative stress, and stretching of the atria.
The study is published in JAMA and was conducted by said Dr. Lin Yee Chen et al.
In the study, the team tested 4,096 participants with an average age of 35 years. During the study period, there were 531 participants who developed dementia over a six-year period.
When comparing the lowest to the highest quintile of left atrial function measures (reservoir strain, conduit strain, and contractile strain), the lowest quintile was strongly linked to a 1.5 to 2.0-fold higher risk of developing dementia.
The team found that the more common measures of left atrial size were not strongly associated with dementia.
This study suggests that atrial myopathy increases the risk of dementia, independently of atrial fibrillation.
Further research may confirm this finding, help us to better define and diagnose atrial myopathy, and ultimately lead to improved treatments that reduce the chance of developing dementia later in life.
Another study has found this healthy diet may strongly prevent memory loss and dementia, which is relevant to the current study.
Previous research has shown that a weak heart can cause a suffering brain.
In a study at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, researchers found that heart problems cause disturbed gene activity in the brain’s memory center, from which cognitive deficits arise.
They found a possible cause for the increased risk of dementia in people with heart problems. Moreover, a specific drug that is known to affect gene activity may alleviate mental deficits.
In Germany, about four million people are affected by heart failure: Their heart muscle is too weak to pump enough blood through the body and is therefore abnormally enlarged.
Physical fitness and quality of life suffer as a result. Moreover, affected people have an increased risk of developing dementia.
In the study, the team found in mice that impaired gene activity developed in the hippocampus as a result of heart problems.
In memory tests, mice with heart failure performed significantly worse than their healthy mates.
They then examined the neurons of the hippocampus. In the mice with heart failure, they found increased cellular stress pathways and altered gene activity in neurons.
The researchers are also investigating drugs. In previous studies, they were able to show that the cancer drug vorinostat can alleviate genetically driven as well as age-related memory problems in mice.
The scientists treated mice with heart failure with this drug. They found that the heart’s pumping capacity did not change significantly, but memory performance improved.
Currently, vorinostat is being investigated for the therapy of people with Alzheimer’s in a clinical trial.
The team says people with heart problems and heart failure, in particular, may experience noticeable cognitive deficits and an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Possible reasons include impaired blood supply to the brain and dysfunction of the hippocampus, which is the memory’s control center.
If you care about dementia risk, please read studies about new stem cell therapy to treat dementia, and antibiotic drug that could effectively treat common dementia.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about eye problems linked to a higher risk of dementia, and results showing that some dementia cases could be prevented by changing these 12 things.
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