Older adults who suffer a heart attack might have a higher chance of developing epilepsy later in life, according to a new study published in the journal Neurology.
While the study shows a connection between the two health problems, it does not prove that one causes the other.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Evan Thacker from Brigham Young University in Utah, explained that in older adults, blood vessels can become blocked or damaged by a condition called vascular disease. This disease can affect many areas of the body at once, including both the heart and the brain.
Dr. Thacker believes that having a heart attack could be an early warning sign of problems in the brain’s blood vessels. These problems may then increase the risk of developing epilepsy, a brain condition that causes seizures.
The study followed 3,174 adults who had no history of heart attack, stroke, or epilepsy when the study began. Their average age was 69, and they were followed for up to 30 years. During that time, 296 people had a heart attack, and 120 people developed epilepsy later in life, also known as late-onset epilepsy (which starts after age 60).
The researchers found that people who had a heart attack were more likely to develop epilepsy later. Specifically, seven out of every 1,000 people who had a heart attack developed epilepsy each year, compared to only two out of every 1,000 people who did not have a heart attack.
After taking into account factors like age, smoking, and body weight, the study showed that people who had a heart attack were about twice as likely to develop epilepsy later in life.
The researchers also explored whether the reverse could be true—if developing epilepsy made people more likely to have a heart attack later. They found no strong evidence for that.
Another key finding was about death rates. People who developed epilepsy later in life were much more likely to die from vascular-related causes that weren’t strokes—such as heart failure, blood clots in the lungs, or a bulge in the aorta (the main artery from the heart).
The death rate was 99 per 1,000 people per year for those with late-onset epilepsy, compared to just 16 per 1,000 people per year for those who didn’t develop epilepsy. After adjusting for other factors, the researchers found that people with late-onset epilepsy were nearly three times more likely to die from these vascular problems.
These results suggest that heart health and brain health may be more closely connected than previously thought. A heart attack could signal not only heart trouble, but also brain-related risks that come later in life. Dr. Thacker suggests that doctors should be aware of the potential for seizures when treating older adults who have had a heart attack.
However, the researchers also pointed out that the number of people in the study who developed both heart attacks and epilepsy was small. This means the findings are less certain and more research is needed to confirm the results.
Still, the study offers an important message: keeping your heart healthy may also protect your brain. For older adults and their doctors, this could mean paying closer attention to brain health after a heart attack and watching for signs of epilepsy in the years that follow.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that Changing blood pressure readings is a hidden sign of heart disease and common type 2 diabetes drugs may raise heart risk.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about root cause of heart rhythm disorders and Warning signal from the kidneys can predict future heart failure risk.
The study is published in Neurology.
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