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A healthy cardiovascular system is associated with lower risk for dementia.
The same factors that raise the risk for heart disease also impact brain disease, including stroke, Alzheimers disease, and other dementias. Heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, senior scientist and director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and executive editor of Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter. As the mean age of the worlds population is increasing, its not surprising the prevalence of stroke and dementias is on the rise.
Stroke was the fifth leading cause of death overall in 2020, and many more people suffered disabilities from stroke. But deaths and disabilities from Alzheimers disease and other dementias combined outrank those attributed to strokes. In recognition of this, the American Heart Associations 2022 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics annual report includes a chapter on brain health for the first time. We talked to a member of the reports writing committee, Mitchell S.V. Elkind, MD, MS, FAHA, to get the latest on the relationship between cardiovascular health and brain health-and what you can do to bolster both. Dr. Elkind is chief clinical science officer of the American Heart Association and a past volunteer president of the Association (2020-21). Until recently he was professor of neurology and epidemiology and chief of the Division of Neurology Clinical Outcomes Research and Population Sciences at Columbia University in New York.
Health & Nutrition Letter (HNL): How does vascular health impact brain health?
Dr. Elkind: Blood vessels supply oxygen and nutrients to the brain, so problems affecting those blood vessels or the heart itself can impair brain health. Accumulating evidence suggests cardiovascular risk factors lead to cognitive decline and dementia. Similarly, behaviors that promote vascular and heart health, such as physical activity and a healthy diet, also promote brain health and healthy aging-in effect, what is good for the heart and blood vessels is good...