Cardiac disease linked with faltering brain risk

Cardiac disease is linked with higher risk of mental impairment involving language, thinking and judgment, particularly among women with heart disease, a US study shows.

Known as non-amnestic because it doesn’t include memory loss, this type of mild cognitive impairment may be a precursor to vascular (blood related) and other non-Alzheimer’s dementias.

Mild cognitive impairment is an important stage for early detection and intervention in dementia, says Rosebud Roberts, health sciences researcher at Mayo Clinic, who led the study, according to the Journal of American Medical Association Neurology.

“Prevention and management of cardiac disease and vascular risk factors are likely to reduce the risk,” Roberts says. Researchers evaluated 2,719 people aged 70 to 89 years at the beginning of the study and every 15 months after, according to a Mayo statement.

Of the 1,450 without mild cognitive impairment at the beginning, 669 had heart disease and 59 (8.8 percent) developed nonamnestic mild cognitive impairment. In comparison 34 (4.4 percent) of 781 who did not have heart disease developed nonamenestic mild cognitive impairment.