The more you do to promote your cardiovascular health, the lower your risk of dementia

The L.A. Times reports:

You know it’s important to eat right, exercise and keep your cholesterol under control to reduce your risk of a heart attack of stroke. If that’s not enough of an incentive, new research suggests that taking care of your cardiovascular system will pay off for your brain as well.

A study of more than 6,600 senior citizens found that the better they scored on seven measures of cardiovascular health, the lower their risk of dementia over the ensuing years.




The difference was dramatic: Among those with the lowest scores, dementia developed at a rate of 13.3 cases per 100 people. But among those with the highest scores, there were only 7.1 cases per 100 people.

The results, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., should prompt doctors and patients alike to focus on cardiovascular fitness for the sake of preserving cognitive health, experts said.

“To achieve a lifetime of robust brain health free of dementia, it is never too early or too late to strive for attainment of idea cardiovascular health,” Dr. Jeffrey Saver, a leader of the UCLA Stroke Center, and Dr. Mary Cushman of the University of Vermont wrote in an editorial that accompanies the study. “Given the aging population, this positive health message is important to communicate to all members of society.”

There have already been many clues that vascular problems can translate into brain problems. Narrowed, blocked or leaky blood vessels can lead to strokes, which are the No. 2 cause of dementia (after Alzheimer’s disease). Observational studies have turned up connections between cardiovascular conditions in midlife and cognitive conditions in late life.

An article well worth your time.