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The sooner you recognize the signs of dementia, the better the treatment options. British doctors have announced a new rapid method to detect a risk of dementia even before the onset of symptoms.
To this end, simply observe the blood flow into the carotid artery for five minutes, reports a group around Scott Chiesa of the UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences in London. The researchers studied what is known as wave intensity, which measures the speed of blood flow and the rigidity of the vessel walls.
The more intense the pulse, the more participants in the study quickly developed cognitive problems in the next decade. The possible path, according to the researchers: The more intense beats can damage small blood vessels in the brain and cause mini-strokes that are not noticed, but are immense.
More than 3000 people examined
The researchers evaluated data from a larger study and used information on more than 3,000 people aged 15 years. The area with the highest heart rate at baseline had a risk of cognitive impairment that was half as high as the rest. That would represent a year and a half reduction in mental health, they said Sunday at a conference of the American Heart Association in Chicago.
Although not all people with these symptoms develop dementia later, they are often considered the first omens. "Dementia is the result of decades of brain damage," Scott Chiesa told the BBC. "We must therefore identify those who are on the path of dementia as quickly as possible."
In a next step, researchers want to use brain scans to determine if and how the brain structure of study participants has changed.
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