A healthier heart could prevent Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The study, published online Feb. 19 in Circulation, associates heart function with the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Participants with decreased heart function, measured by cardiac index, were two to three times more likely to develop significant memory loss over the follow-up period.
“Heart function could prove to be a major risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,” said Angela Jefferson, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center, and principal investigator of the study.
