Does chronic caregiving for a spouse with Alzheimer's disease increase circulating levels of inflammatory biomarkers relevant to cardiovascular disease risk?
Chronic caregiving for individuals with dementia is associated with increased systemic inflammation, suggesting a potential mechanism for increased cardiovascular risk in this population.
Duration of caregiving and being a caregiver per se were both associated with chronic low-grade inflammation as indicated by elevated CRP and TNF-α levels, respectively. Conversely, death of the AD spouse was associated with lower CRP and sICAM-1 levels. The findings indicate that chronic caregiving of those with dementia may result in increased inflammation and, thereby, possibly increased CVD risk.
Känel et al. (Tue,) studied this question.