Scientists from the University of Pittsburgh found arterial stiffness may predict dementia risk, independent of brain damage.
The research is published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and was conducted by Chendi Cui et al.
In the study, the team used data from 532 nondemented older adults participating in the Cardiovascular Health Study Cognition Study.
Participants had annual cognitive exams from 1998-1999 through 2013. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) was measured for 356 participants (mean age, 78 years; 59 percent women) between 1996 and 2000.
cfpPWV is a measure of arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness describes the rigidity of the arterial wall. Arterial stiffness is a growing epidemic linked to increased risk of heart events, dementia, and death.
The researchers found that for 15 years, 60% of participants developed dementia, with a median time from cfPWV measurement of four years.
cfPWV was strongly linked to an increased risk for dementia and pulse pressure were not.
After further adjustment for other factors like education, race, APOE ε4, diabetes, body mass index, mean arterial pressure, and high blood pressure medication, cfPWV remained significantly associated with dementia risk.
The team found higher cfPWV was also linked to lower physical activity intensity and higher systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and waist circumference measured five years prior.
The researchers say that it is very surprising that adjusting for subclinical brain disease markers didn’t reduce the association between arterial stiffness and dementia at all.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about a simple test to detect dementia risk, and these heartburn drugs may increase risk of dementia.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that single head injury can cause dementia decades later, and results showing this supplement could keep dementia at bay.
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