Heart Disease Risk Factors Associated With Faster Cognitive Decline

Main Category: Heart Disease
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;  Alzheimer's / Dementia;  Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 09 Mar 2009 - 13:00 PDT

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Individuals with higher total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol levels and a history of diabetes appear to experience a more rapid cognitive decline after developing Alzheimer's disease. Elizabeth P. Helzner, Ph.D, and colleagues at the Columbia University Medical Center, New York, studied 156 patients who were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at an average age of 83.

During an average of 3.5 years of follow-up, those who had higher LDL and total cholesterol levels before diagnosis experienced a more rapid decline on cognitive test scores than those whose cholesterol levels were in the normal range, as did those with a history of diabetes when compared with those without diabetes.

The study "provides further evidence for the role of vascular risk factors in the course of Alzheimer's disease," the authors conclude. "Prevention or treatment of these conditions can potentially slow the course of Alzheimer's disease."

Arch Neurol. 2009;66[3]:343-348.

Archives of Neurology