Afib increases risk of dementia (part 2)

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Group Health

Dr. Dublin's study, which ran from 1994 to 2008, followed 3,045 people. The researchers relied on Group Health's advanced electronic data systems to determine whether participants had atrial fibrillation. The cognitive function of all study participants was evaluated every two years with tests and interviews as part of ACT. Patients whose ACT tests indicated possible dementia had additional tests including physical, neurological, and psychological exams, and many also had brain scans. A panel of experts determined the correct diagnosis for patients with cognitive problems.

Atrial fibrillation affects 3 million Americans. Dr. Dublin says that some ways it might increase dementia risk are:


•weakening the heart's pumping ability, leading to less oxygen going to the brain;


•increasing the chance of tiny blood clots going to the brain, causing small, clinically undetected strokes;


•a combination of these plus other factors that contribute to dementia such as inflammation.

Dr. Dublin said an important next step is studying whether any treatments for atrial fibrillation reduce the risk of developing dementia. The researchers also hope their results reach primary care providers, who are often the main doctors caring for people with atrial fibrillation, dementia, or both.

"Right now, we think we are protecting our patients' brains as long as they don't have a stroke, but tiny insults over time can add up," said Dr. Dublin, who is a primary care physician at Group Health. "This paper is a wakeup call, telling us that we need to learn more about how to protect brain function, while continuing to give patients with atrial fibrillation the best possible care."


Source: Group Health Research Institute

Afib increases risk of dementia

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care professionals to get an easyceu or two

Group Health

The most common kind of chronically irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation, is associated with a greater risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. This discovery by scientists at Group Health Research Institute and their collaborators was published online in advance of print on August 1 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

"Both atrial fibrillation and dementia increase with age," said Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, a Group Health Research Institute assistant investigator who led the research. "Before our prospective cohort study, we knew that atrial fibrillation can cause stroke, which can lead to dementia. Now we've learned that atrial fibrillation may increase dementia risk in other, more subtle ways as well."

The results of Dr. Dublin's study suggest a relationship between atrial fibrillation and dementia beyond the connection through stroke. The people in the study had a mean age of 74 years when the study began. None had dementia or a history of stroke. At the beginning of the study, 4.3 percent had atrial fibrillation, and an additional 12.2 percent developed it during the study. In the course of the study, 18.8 percent developed some type of dementia. People with atrial fibrillation were more likely to have other cardiovascular risk factors and disease than were those without the condition. So the researchers looked to see if atrial fibrillation increased dementia risk more than just through its association with other kinds of heart disease.

Participants were followed for an average of seven years. Over this time, those with atrial fibrillation had a 40 percent to 50 percent higher risk of developing dementia of any type, including probable Alzheimer's disease, compared to those without atrial fibrillation. This was true even for people who did not also have a stroke during the follow-up period.

The research was part of Adult Changes in Thought (ACT), an ongoing joint project of the Group Health and University of Washington studying risk factors for dementia in older adults. Started in 1994 ACT is led by Dr. Dublin's co-author Group Health Vice President for Research and Group Health Research Institute Executive Director Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH. ACT focuses on finding ways to delay or prevent dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, and declines in memory and thinking. It aims to deepen understanding of how the body-especially the brain-ages. ACT participants are members of Group Health Cooperative, a nonprofit health care system in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Common heart problem raises Alzheimer's risk

By Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters

CHICAGO - Atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm problem, raises the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, especially in people under age 70, U.S. researchers said on Friday.


They said the heart condition boosts the risk of all forms of dementia by 44 per cent. And in people under age 70, it doubles the risk of Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia.


"In patients under age 70, if they had atrial fibrillation, they were 130 per cent more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease," Dr. John Day of Intermountain Medical Center in Utah, who worked on the study, said in a telephone interview.


"It appears to be a much more aggressive form of Alzheimer's disease," Day said.


Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm problem, affecting about 2.2 million Americans. It occurs when the heart beats chaotically, leaving blood to pool and possibly clot. If the clot leaves the heart, it can cause a stroke.


"Previous studies have shown that patients with atrial fibrillation are at higher risk for some types of dementia, including vascular dementia," said Dr. Jared Bunch of Intermountain, who presented the results at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting in Boston.


"To our knowledge, this is the first......read the whole story

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Study makes first connection between heart disorder and Alzheimer's disease

EurekAlert
Contact: Jess Gomez
jess.gomez@imail.org
801-507-7455
Intermountain Medical Center

Study of more than 37,000 patients shows relationship between atrial fibrillation and development of Alzheimer's disease
Researchers at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City believe that they have made a breakthrough connection between atrial fibrillation, a fairly common heart rhythm disorder, and Alzheimer's disease, the leading form of dementia among Americans.

In a study presented Friday, May 15, at "Heart Rhythm 2009," the annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society in Boston, researchers unveiled findings from the study of more than 37,000 patients that showed a strong relationship between atrial fibrillation and the development of Alzheimer's disease.

The study, which drew upon information from the Intermountain Heart Collaborative Study, a vast database from hundreds of thousands of patients treated at Intermountain Healthcare hospitals, found:

• Patients with atrial fibrillation were 44 percent more likely to develop dementia than patients without the heart disorder.

• Younger patients with atrial fibrillation were at higher risk of developing all types of dementia, particularly Alzheimer's. Atrial fibrillation patients under age 70 were 130 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer's.

• Patients who have both atrial fibrillation and dementia were 61 percent more likely to die during the study period than dementia patients without the rhythm problem.

• Younger atrial fibrillation patients with dementia may be at higher risk of death than older AF patients with dementia.

Intermountain Medical Center cardiologist T. Jared Bunch, M.D., the study's lead researcher, presented the findings at the scientific session.

"Previous studies have shown that patients with atrial fibrillation are at higher risk for some types of dementia, including vascular dementia. But to our knowledge, this is the first large-population study to clearly show that.......read the whole story

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here


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For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here