Heart disease may lead to dementia in older people

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Many older people have a type of heart problem called ischemic heart disease.

This is when blood doesn’t flow to the heart as well as it should, which can cause chest pain and heart attacks.

Now, a new study says that these people may also be more likely to get dementia.

Dementia is when someone has trouble with their memory and thinking skills. It usually happens to people as they get older.

What was the Study About?

The study, which was published in a journal called Alzheimer’s & Dementia, looked at over 2500 older people. None of them had dementia when the study started.

The researchers wanted to find out if having ischemic heart disease would make these people more likely to get dementia later on. They also checked to see if the heart disease made their thinking skills get worse more quickly.

What Did They Find?

The researchers discovered that people with ischemic heart disease did have a higher risk of getting dementia. Their thinking skills also seemed to get worse more quickly than those who didn’t have the heart problem.

This was true even if they didn’t have other health problems that can also lead to dementia like a type of heart rhythm problem called atrial fibrillation, heart failure, or diseases that affect the blood vessels in the brain.

What Does This Mean for the Future?

This study shows that it’s important to take care of heart health as we get older. It could help to protect our brains and keep our thinking skills sharp.

The researchers think that future studies should look at how the brain changes after someone is diagnosed with ischemic heart disease.

They also want to find out if treating heart disease can slow down the loss of thinking skills or delay the start of dementia.

These studies could help to reduce the number of people who get dementia, which would be a big help to older people and their families.

If you care about brain health, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and scientists find possible ways to delay or reverse Alzheimer’s disease.

For more information on brain health, please see recent studies about Vitamin D deficiency linked to higher dementia risk, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.

The study was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

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