Memory loss in middle age 'linked' to heart changes says new study

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Memory loss and worsening thinking skills in middle age have been linked to heart health, researchers have found. A new study has reported that small changes in the heart could be a risk factor for cognitive decline in middle age.

Risk markers for lower thinking and memory skills in middle age could appear in the heart before heart disease even occurs, the study concluded.Heart health risks like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes have already been linked with an increased risk of cognitive impairment.

However, much less was known specifically about changes in heart structure and heart function in relation to mental processes and ability.

The study was published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, on January 26. Experts followed young adults over a 25 year period through middle age and found declines in thinking and memory skills associated with heart structure and function."Our findings are of critical importance in the context of identifying potential early markers in the heart of increased risk for later-life cognitive decline," said study author Laure Rouch, PharmD, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco."Such abnormalities are common and often underdiagnosed as they do not produce any obvious symptoms."The researchers analysed a group of 2,653 people with an average age of 30 over 25 years.