Study: What hurts the heart also hurts the brain

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – According to a recent study, people at higher risk for heart disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity, are more likely to develop brain changes that may lead to dementia.

The researchers examined data from 9772 adults who had all undergone magnetic resonance imaging at least once and provided information on their overall health and medical records.

The study is focused on a link between brain structure and so-called cardiovascular disease factors. They found that all other risk factors – smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity – were associated with abnormal brain changes in people with dementia, with the exception of high cholesterol.

The higher the risk of vascular disease, the worse the brain health, as evidenced by the shrinking of size and the decline of gray matter (a tissue located on the surface of the brain and responsible for delivery). Orders to all organs of the body or so-called nerve signals) and white matter (The deep parts of the brain and its function transfer nerve signals to the rest of the body).

"Some elements contribute to brain aging and cognitive functions that we can not change (like our genes), so we can see this as a list of things we have some control over," said Simon Cox. , who led the study at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. Or so-called flexible risk factors. "

"There are many other benefits to improving cardiovascular health (improving diet, weight, exercise, blood sugar control, and smoking cessation)," Cox said by e-mail. "But there is other solid evidence that these benefits maintain brain health."

The strongest links between vascular and cerebral structural factors have appeared in areas of the brain known to be responsible for the more complex thinking skills that deteriorate during the development of Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

The researchers said in the European Heart Journal that factors in heart disease seemed to affect brain health in middle age as well as in old age.