Contents
The problem of dementia is growing. At the same time, many people suffer from various types of diseases of the cardiovascular system. This translates into brain function as well – and it’s not just that the risk of stroke or stroke increases. Fortunately, there’s good news – supporting the cardiovascular system helps to keep the brain in good condition. Find out more about it.
- Dementia is a growing problem. In 2020, 55 million people worldwide had one of its forms, such as Alzheimer’s disease
- The number of those who die from it begins to outweigh the victims of heart disease
- Scientists have found links between diseases of other body systems and the development of dementia. Among them is, for example, hypertension, which increases the risk of cognitive impairment five times over
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Brain health means the ability to perform a variety of tasks, such as controlling body movement, perceiving your surroundings, remembering, communicating with others, evaluating different situations, solving problems, making decisions, processing emotions.
Meanwhile, nearly 55 million people worldwide had Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia in 2020. It is as much as 37 percent. an increase compared to 2010 and as much as 144 percent. an increase over the period three decades ago. Almost 2 million people died in 2020 from dementia of various types. For comparison, 9 million people died from heart disease.
– The number of people with brain disease is beginning to overtake the number of people with heart disease. Mortality from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias has more than doubled over the past decade, relative to that from heart disease. It is necessary to take care of it – says prof. Mitchell SV Elkind, former president of the American Heart Association, and one of the authors of a new study published in Circulation, on diseases of the brain, cardiovascular system and their connections.
- How does the head get sick? Serious diseases that can lead to death
The rest of the material for the video.
Between heart health and brain health
Meanwhile, statistics clearly indicate – a healthy circulatory system is a brain in a better condition.
– We are learning more and more about how certain types of dementia are related to aging and poor cardiovascular health. Many studies show that behaviors that promote heart health also help maintain or improve brain health. It is becoming increasingly clear that reducing the factors that contribute to vascular disease can make a real difference in helping people achieve a longer, healthier life, free from heart and brain disease, emphasizes Prof. Elkind.
139 studies analyzed in the above-mentioned study showed, for example, that middle-aged people with hypertension have five times higher risk of developing cognitive impairment. Meanwhile, in the US, for example, too high pressure is 47 percent. adult population. In Poland, 10 million adults suffer from them. The research included in the publication also showed that people with obesity have as much as three times higher risk of dementia, and those who smoke – by 30-40 percent. Heart failure increased the risk of dementia twice. Cognitive impairment was also more common in people with atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease, which increased the risk by 40%.
Message for the healthy
However, the problem is not just about people who already develop dementia. The effects of problems with the circulatory system may be more subtle. Last year, researchers at Queen Mary University of London showed that even among a group of people with generally healthy brains, those with healthy hearts had more agile minds. Information analysis by as much as 32 thousand of 32,000 UK Biobank research project participants showed that volunteers with MRI images of healthy hearts performed better on tests of their ability to solve logical tasks and reaction time.
– We knew before that patients with heart disease were at higher risk of dementia and vice versa. Now, however, we have shown that the relationship between the health of the heart and brain also applies to healthy people. For the first time, in a large group of healthy people, we demonstrated that people with normal heart structure and function do better cognitively, says Dr Zahra Raisi-Estabragh, author of the study.
How it works?
Her team also took a closer look at possible causes of the observed correlations. These links could only be partially explained by the same common factors affecting both the brain and the heart – diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure and obesity. However, they could not give a complete explanation. Scientists are therefore paying attention to other studies pointing to alternative explanations.
For example, according to one of them proteins that damage the brain in Alzheimer’s disease can also damage the heart muscle. According to another explanation, the worse health of both the heart and the brain is the result of the accelerated aging of the body. It may also be because a worse-functioning heart means that there is less blood supply to the brain.
- Read also: In Alzheimer’s disease, the brain shrinks and shrinks. Why? Explains the neurologist
Neuron stress
The team from the University Medical Center in Göttingen, on the other hand, observed that heart damage is accompanied by changes in the activity of genes in the brain.
– People with cardiological problems, especially heart failure, have cognitive deficits and an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Possible causes include reduced blood supply to the brain and worse functioning of the hippocampus – the memory control center – says Prof. André Fischer. However, there are no treatments for these defects in people with heart problems. This is because it is not known what changes occur in neurons. So far, there has been no such topic of data, the specialist emphasizes.
Meanwhile, in the experiments conducted by his group, mice with a malfunctioning heart changed the activity of nerve cell genes in the hippocampus – many genes important for the work of the hippocampus were less active. These changes were typical of the stress response of cells. The animals also performed much worse on tasks that tested the functioning of their memory. The discovery opens the way to work on new therapies. There is already, for example, an anti-cancer drug (vorinostat) that influences the activation of genes. When scientists gave it to heart-damaged mice, even though the circulatory system was still working the same, the rodents’ brains improved.
It’s worth starting early
It is worth taking care of the circulatory system in youth. Experts from Northwestern University argue that those who take simple steps young will lower the risk of brain trouble later in life.
– The American Heart Association has developed a program of seven simple steps called Life’s Simple 7 that anyone can take to improve heart health. New research shows that people with more points score better on thinking tests. We wanted to see if working on a healthy heart with these seven elements also affects the physical health of the brain, says Dr. Michael Bancks, lead author of a study published in Neurology.
- See also: Take care of your heart. Six practical tips
Life’s Simple 7 consists of maintaining adequate blood pressure, controlling cholesterol levels, lowering blood glucose levels, taking care of exercise, diet, maintaining a proper weight and not smoking.
An analysis of data on more than 500 volunteers followed for an average of 30 years showed that those whose lifestyles were closer to Life’s Simple 7’s recommendations in their youth had fewer declines in brain volume in middle age. Smoking was particularly strongly associated with the loss of brain mass.
– These results are exciting because all these positive steps can be implemented by virtually anyone at a young age to help maintain a long and healthy life. This may mean that heart condition may affect brain function early in life, but more research is needed to confirm this theory, says Prof. Bancks.
However, it is not worth the wait – certainly, taking care of the heart from an early age will not hurt, and it will probably benefit not only the most important muscle, but also the brain.
Marek Matacz for Zdrowie.pap.pl
Read also:
- 10 common habits that destroy the human brain Are you doing it too?
- Is there a way to protect the brain from dementia? You can do more than you think
- A way to detect Alzheimer’s early. The key is the way we speak