Elevated heart rate linked to increased risk of dementia

Date:
December 3, 2021
Source:
Karolinska Institutet
Summary:
Having an elevated resting heart rate in old age may be an
independent risk factor of dementia, according to a new study. Since
resting heart rate is easy to measure and can be lowered through
exercise or medical treatment, the researchers believe that it
may help to identify people with higher dementia risk for early
intervention.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Having an elevated resting heart rate in old age may be an independent
risk factor of dementia, according to a study at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of
the Alzheimer's Association.Since resting heart rate is easy to measure
and can be lowered through exercise or medical treatment, the researchers believe that it may help to identify people with higher dementia risk
for early intervention.


==========================================================================
The number of people living with dementia is expected to increase to
139 million globally by 2050, from 55 million in 2020, according to
the organisation Alzheimer's Disease International. Currently, there is
no cure for dementia, but growing evidence suggests that maintaining a
healthy lifestyle and cardiovascular health could help delay the onset
of dementia and ease symptoms.

In this study, the researchers examined if resting heart rate in 2,147 individuals 60 years old or older and living in Stockholm could be linked
to dementia and cognitive decline independent of other known risk factors,
such as cardiovascular disease.

The study, which followed the participants for up to 12 years, showed
that individuals with a resting heart rate of 80 beats per minute or
higher on average had 55 percent higher risk of dementia than those
with a heart rate of 60-69 beats per minute. The association remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders such as various cardiovascular diseases. Still, the researchers caution that the result
may have been affected by undetected cardiovascular events and the
fact that more participants with cardiovascular disease died during the follow-up period and thus didn't have time to develop dementia.

The study cannot establish a causal relationship, but the researchers
offer several plausible explanations for the association, including
the effect of underlying cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular
risk factors, stiffened arteries, and imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve activities.

"We believe it would be valuable to explore if resting heart rate could identify patients with high dementia risk," says the study's leading
author Yume Imahori, a researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet. "If we follow such patients' cognitive function carefully and intervene early, the onset of dementia
might be delayed, which can have a substantial impact on their quality
of life." The study was led by senior lecturer Dr Chengxuan Qiu and
the data was derived from the Swedish National study on Aging and Care
in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K).

The research was funded by the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social
Affairs, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Research Council for
Health, Working Life and Welfare, the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education, Karolinska Institutet and
the European Union.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Karolinska_Institutet. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Yume Imahori, Davide L. Vetrano, Xin Xia, Giulia Grande, Petter
Ljungman,
Laura Fratiglioni, Chengxuan Qiu. Association of resting heart
rate with cognitive decline and dementia in older adults:
A population‐based cohort study. Alzheimer's & Dementia,
2021; DOI: 10.1002/alz.12495 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211203081519.htm

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