Cardiovascular Aging Correlates with Brain Aging

Many large epidemiological studies demonstrate a correlation between cardiovascular aging and the risk of suffering cognitive decline and dementia. The population size of such studies has increased in recent years with the advent of sizable national databases, such as the UK Biobank. Today's open access paper focuses on one specific aspect of cardiovascular aging, the onset of atrial fibrillation, irregular heartbeats that can be accompanied by palpitations and other worrying sensations. Atrial fibrillation can arise in combination with many of the features of cardiovascular aging, and one might argue that data on time of diagnosis is interesting because the physical sensation of atrial fibrillation might more readily drive people to see a physician (and thus become a row in a database) than is the case for other early manifestations of declining heart function. Regardless of that speculation, the researchers demonstrated that earlier diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, indicative in some fraction of cases that other cardiovascular issues are present, is associated with increased risk of suffering later dementia. The brain is an energy-hungry organ, and cardiovascular aging can imply reduced blood flow to the brain, a lower supply of nutrients that has consequences over the long term. That cardiovascular aging associated is typically also accompanied by a greater decline in quality of blood vessels and higher blood pressure, leading to damage and rupture of small vessels...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs