The heart–brain connection: from evidence to action
Key result
This editorial highlights that cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment share common risk factors and causal pathways, emphasizing the need for aggressive risk management to prevent dementia.
Population
Cognitively healthy participants at enrolment from the Maastricht Aging Study (MAAS) cohort
Design
Editorial
Follow-up
12 years
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
Cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment share causal pathways, reinforcing the need for aggressive management of cardiovascular risk factors to simultaneously prevent dementia.
Key Points
- This editorial aims to highlight the connection between cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment, emphasizing shared risk factors and the implications for clinical practice.
- Evaluated cognitive function and cardiovascular disease in a longitudinal cohort from the Maastricht Aging Study (MAAS).
- Participants were assessed for cognitive domains like verbal memory and executive function over 12 years.
- Analyses were stratified by prevalent and incident cardiovascular disease.
- Cognitive impairment was more frequent in participants who developed cardiovascular disease during follow-up.
- Stronger associations were observed among younger individuals regarding cognitive decline.
- The findings support the notion that managing cardiovascular risk factors can also prevent dementia.
Structured PICO
P
Population
Cognitively healthy participants at enrolment from the Maastricht Aging Study (MAAS) cohort
O
Outcome
Cognitive impairment (verbal memory, executive function, and information processing speed)
Cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment share causal pathways, reinforcing the need for aggressive management of cardiovascular risk factors to simultaneously prevent dementia.
Limitations
- Delineating the respective responsibility of clinical events over and above that of cardiovascular risk factors is challenging because of shared causal pathways, requiring very large sample sizes.
- Sample size and follow-up length were insufficient to enable extensive and complex adjustment to delineate the respective responsibility of clinical events versus cardiovascular risk factors.
Cite This Study
Véronique L. Roger (2017) conducted an editorial in Cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment. Cardiovascular disease and risk factors was evaluated. This editorial highlights that cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment share common risk factors and causal pathways, emphasizing the need for aggressive risk management to prevent dementia.