Cardiovascular Issues Contribute Heavily to Loss of Memory and Cognitive Decline

The brain is the most physiologically demanding organ in the human body, and requires a constant flow
of oygen!rich blood to maintain its optimal function" If the heart and cardiovascular systems are
unable to meet the demands of the brain, then the brain will have to ad#ust its function to compensate"
Two of the most common issues related to aging are a decline in cognitive function and diminished
cardiovascular health" The more research that is conducted with regard to these two issues, the more
clear that it becomes that heart health is intricately lin$ed to the health of the mind"
Heart %roblems Increase the &is$ of Cognitive Impairment
Individuals that suffer from poor heart health due to atherosclerosis, heart failure, hypertension, or
other conditions which impact circulation are more li$ely to eperience heightened cognitive decline in
comparison to their peers with healthy hearts or cardiovascular systems in moderate health" ' new
study released in the (ournal of the 'merican Medical 'ssociation made connection quite clearly"
In this study, medical researchers discovered that individuals with poor cardiovascular health were at
significantly greater ris$ of cognitive decline, including diminished verbal ability, afflicted memory,
and inhibited learning" This study was conducted by epidemiological specialists at )righam *oung
+niversity, led by Dr" ,van Thac$er, a chronic illness specialist"
Data Collected from an ,tensive 'rray of %atients
&esearchers gathered data from a large set of patients, all at least forty!five years old" Their cognitive
ability was assessed at the start of the study and was revisited four years later" 'll patients selected for
the study had never eperienced a $nown stro$e and had average mental acuity at the beginning of the
study" In total, -.,./- individuals were evaluated"
In order to select sub#ects for this study, the researchers utili0ed medical information collected from the
&,1'&D2 3&easons for 1eographic and &acial Difference in 2tro$e4 2tudy" The original study was
both racially and geographically diverse" 567 of participants were men, 687 were Caucasian as
opposed to 597 'frican 'merican" 6/7 of participants were selected from the 'merican 2outheast, the
region of the +nited 2tates where cardiovascular complications occur most frequently, also $nown as
the 2tro$e )elt"
Heart Health ,stablished :ia Lifestyle &is$ ;actors
In order to evaluate the health status and health ris$s of the patients, the participants were evaluated
using what is $nown as the Life<s 2imple 2even Initiative" This evaluation assessed the present and
future health ris$s of patients according to their lifestyle choices, and collected data regarding blood
sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, )MI, activity level, diet, and whether they used tobacco products"
)ased on prior research, these seven aspects of lifestyle have the capability of providing a simple
metric for establishing the cardiovascular health of the patient, separating the participants into three
groups according to ris$ level" The results of the study were controlled by a variety of factors,
including education, race, gender, and age"
,levated Cognitive Decline &is$ 'pparent ,ven 'fter Thorough Control
'fter controlling for mediating factors, the researchers were able to see a clear difference in cognitive
ability based upon the cardiovascular status of the patients" 9"/7!9".7 of individuals with healthy and
average cardiovascular profiles eperienced cognitive decline after four years, whereas 5"/ percent of
individuals with the lowest heart health scores eperienced similar impairment"
2tudy Displays the Importance of Lifestyle in &elationship to Heart Health and Cognitive 'bility
This displays the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle which promotes heart health, because it
clearly shows that an unhealthy cardiovascular system suppresses the higher function of the brain" The
good thing about this study is that patients don<t have to have perfect hearts to protect their brains, they
#ust have to ma$e sure that they ta$e simple steps to protect their cardiovascular system from ma#or
danger"
Dr" Thac$er was pleased with the results of the study, because he feels that it will encourage patients to
be proactive" Memory and cognitive ability are two factors which are most important to men and
women as they grow older, and the message of this study is that if you #ust ta$e the time to ta$e care of
yourself, you can reduce the ris$ of cognitive decline by almost half"
It<s not about reaching ideal heart health when it comes to higher functions, and many patients may
have passed the point where they can ever eperience ideal heart health again, but for patients
concerned with their cognitive function, it provides etra motivation to ta$e steps to $eep the
cardiovascular system in as healthy a state as possible"
The benefits of a healthy heart transcend all boundaries of human eperience" The benefits were
pronounced in spite of region, prior heart conditions, se and race" =f course, some groups are more at
ris$ than others" &esearches found that participants with more money and more education were less
li$ely to eperience cognitive decline" >omen eperienced issues more often than men, and patients
that had never eperienced cardiovascular disease were more li$ely to have healthier minds" This does
not interfere with the results of the study, it simply shows that certain groups have a predisposition to
healthier hearts and minds"
How >ere %atients Cognitively ,valuated?
In order to assess the cognitive condition of the patients, a number of tests were conducted with regard
to verbal ability, memory, and learning" :erbal ability was evaluated by requesting the sub#ect to come
up with as many animals as they could in a minute" Memory was evaluated by seeing how many words
that a patient could remember from a-@ component list after distraction, and learning was evaluated by
showing the patient the same list of words three times in an effort to see if they how many words they
could commit to memory"
)ased on the way that the data was collected, there is no clear analysis at this time which eplains why
the patients with good or great cardiovascular health performed better than those with wea$er
cardiovascular systems, although many other studies have pointed out that oygenation is important for
a strong and healthy brain"