May 4, 2024

Johns Hopkins Research Links Heart Attacks With Faster Cognitive Decline

For those who suffered a heart attack, while the researchers did not find substantial cognitive decline immediately after their first heart attack, the participants cognitive tests revealed a decline over the years following the event. Of the general sample, 1,033 people went on to have at least one heart attack, and out of that, 137 had two heart attacks.

A study carried out by Johns Hopkins Medicine has actually discovered a link between cardiovascular disease and accelerated cognitive decline. Analyzing information from grownups who experienced their first cardiac arrest, the scientists found that while the event did not trigger an immediate decrease in cognition, it did significantly speed up cognitive decline in the following years, equivalent to about 6 to 13 years of cognitive aging.
Research by Johns Hopkins Medicine, released in JAMA Neurology, reveals a link between heart attacks and faster cognitive decrease for many years following the occasion. Regardless of no immediate cognitive decline after a heart attack, the event was discovered to accelerate cognitive aging by six to 13 years. The research study highlights the significance of managing vascular threat aspects to maintain brain health.
In a recent study, a Johns Hopkins Medicine scientist and collaborators evaluated data on adults to figure out if there is a link in between having a cardiac arrest and cognitive decrease. The brand-new findings, released May 30, 2023 in JAMA Neurology, revealed that having a heart attack, amongst those who had never ever had one previously, was not connected with an unexpected decline in cognition. For those who had a heart attack versus those who did not, there was a considerably faster decline in cognition over the years following the heart attack. The decrease in worldwide cognition after a cardiac arrest was comparable to about 6 to 13 years of cognitive aging.
A cardiac arrest, or myocardial infarction, is a medical emergency situation in which the blood supply to the heart is suddenly and significantly lowered or cut off, triggering the muscle to die from an absence of oxygen. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year about 805,000 people in the United States have a cardiovascular disease. Of these, 605,000 are a very first heart attack, and 200,000 occur to people who have already had a cardiovascular disease.

For those who had a heart attack versus those who did not, there was a considerably faster decline in cognition over the years following the heart attack. A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, is a medical emergency in which the blood supply to the heart is suddenly and significantly minimized or cut off, triggering the muscle to pass away from a lack of oxygen. Of these, 605,000 are a first heart attack, and 200,000 happen to people who have actually already had a heart attack.

” Due to the truth that many individuals are at threat for having a heart attack, we hope that the outcomes of our study will serve as a wake-up call for people to control vascular danger aspects like high blood pressure and raised cholesterol as quickly as they can because we have actually revealed that having a cardiovascular disease increases your threat of reduced cognition and memory in the future in life,” says Michelle Johansen, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
In a pooled analysis of 6 various big research studies of adults between 1971 and 2019, researchers determined whether individuals who have had cardiovascular disease revealed changes in cognition compared with people comparable to them in all respects other than they had not had a heart attack. The researchers used a point system to determine participants international or general cognition over time, along with memory and executive performance– or how well individuals make complex cognitive decisions.
For those who suffered a heart attack, while the scientists did not find considerable cognitive decline instantly after their first cardiac arrest, the participants cognitive tests revealed a decrease over the years following the occasion. The scores on a number of various cognitive tests were integrated to represent one cognitive domain. A decrease in points suggested a decline because cognitive domain.
The study sample made up 30,465 individuals who had actually not experienced a cardiovascular disease or stroke and did not have dementia at the time of the very first cognitive assessment; 29% of the people were Black, 8% were Hispanic and 56% were ladies. Of the total sample, 1,033 individuals went on to have at least one heart attack, and out of that, 137 had two heart attacks. Individuals who experienced heart attacks were more likely to be older and male.
Johansen says the next steps are to look at other elements of heart health and how they may impact brain health.
” We have actually revealed that avoiding cardiac arrest might be one technique to protect brain health in older adults,” Johansen says. “Now we require to identify what specifically is triggering the cognitive decrease in time.”
Recommendation: “Association Between Acute Myocardial Infarction and Cognition” by Michelle C. Johansen, MD, PhD; Wen Ye, PhD; Alden Gross, PhD; Rebecca F. Gottesman, MD, PhD; Dehua Han, MPH; Rachael Whitney, PhD; Emily M. Briceño, PhD; Bruno J. Giordani, PhD; Supriya Shore, MD, MS; Mitchell S. V. Elkind, MD, MS; Jennifer J. Manly, PhD; Ralph L. Sacco, MD, MS; Alison Fohner, PhD; Michael Griswold, PhD; Bruce M. Psaty, MD, PhD; Stephen Sidney, MD, MPH; Jeremy Sussman, MD, MS; Kristine Yaffe, MD; Andrew E. Moran, MD, MPH; Susan Heckbert, MD, PhD; Timothy M. Hughes, MPH, PhD; Andrzej Galecki, MD, PhD; Deborah A. Levine, MD, MPH, 30 May 2023, JAMA Neurology.DOI: 10.1001/ jamaneurol.2023.1331.
Other authors consist of Wen Ye, Ph.D., Alden Gross, Ph.D., Rebecca F. Gottesman, M.D., Ph.D., Dehua Han, M.P.H., Rachael Whitney, Ph.D., Emily M. Briceño Ph.D., Bruno J. Giordani, Ph.D., Supriya Shore, M.D., M.S, Mitchell S. V. Elkind, M.D., M.S., Jennifer J. Manly, Ph.D., Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., M.S., Alison Fohner, Ph.D., Michael Griswold, Ph.D., Bruce M. Psaty, M.D., Ph.D., Stephen Sidney, M.D., M.P.H., Jeremy Sussman, M.D., M.S., Kristine Yaffe, M.D., Andrew E. Moran, M.D., M.P.H., Susan Heckbert, M.D., Ph.D., Timothy M. Hughes, Ph.D., Andrzej Galecki, M.D., Ph.D., and Deborah A. Levine, M.D., M.P.H
. This research was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS102715; Principal Investigator, Deborah A. Levine, MD, MPH, University of Michigan), the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services.