Alzheimer disease and dementia : Understanding Heart - Brain connection

Age related cognitive decline in form of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease continue to wreak havoc in our aging population, often taking away precious quality of life.

It has become increasingly clear that there is a strong association between cardiovascular health over our entire lifespan and the risk developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in later life.

The logic is simple: if there is poor circulation to the brain, it will be damaged . However, very often we associated cardiology like high blood pressure, diabetes only with catastrophic events like stroke.

Now, we have clear evidence that uncontrolled high blood pressure , diabetes, cholesterol abnormalities cause decline in brain function and present as early dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Drop in blood pressure on standing upright called orthostatic hypotension has emerged as a strong risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Orthostatic hypotension is common in elderly patients with poorly controlled diabetes, hypertension and heart failure.

The silver lining of all this information is that as we understand the mechanisms involved in causing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, we can manage the risk factors early and prevent these conditions.

The traditional approach of looking at the arteries for blockages is not sufficient. We can diagnose early changes to the vascular lining via simple, non invasive tests like vascular reactivity and measurement of thickness of vascular lining.

We can control blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol levels in optimal ranges throughout the lifetime of an individual via simple lifestyle changes, optimal medication and regular follow ups.

The key is to recognize that the organs of the body work in tandem and a good cardiovascular health is a prerequisite for maintaining good overall health including brain

If you ever wish to understand and lower your risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, feel free to post your query or book an appointment via website/email/ sms/call