Cardiovascular Disease and Alzheimer’s disease

Cardiovascular Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease

Ramona Wilkerson

Jersey College

Coronary artery disease has been identified in earlier studies as a self-governing risk factor for Alzheimer disease and computed tomography–based coronary artery calcium, an assess of the harshness of coronary atherosclerosis, has been connected with a higher risk of cognitive impairment. However, change for white matter lesions, silent brain infarcts, cerebral microbleeds, and brain volumes has attenuated the observed connection between coronary artery calcium and cognition, suggesting that other vascular mechanisms play a role in forming Alzheimer disease. For these reasons, it would have been mainly fascinating to have neuroimaging information on the sick individual reported by Haring et al. Also, patients who had supplementary vascular complication, such as peripheral artery illness, or who had undergone all-encompassing procedures, counting coronary bypass surgery or carotid endarterectomy, were at higher risk for cognitive decline. The possible connection between carotid atherosclerosis and Alzheimer disease has been previously emphasized, leading to potential explanations, including the role of carotid atherosclerosis to silent or symptomatic cerebrovascular actions, or to chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Furthermore, the existence of peripheral arterial disease, evaluated by the ankle-brachial index or with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, has an established association with lower cognitive purpose.

There is an increase number of persons in the society affected and suffering from CVD in the recent past and this has made the death related to CVD increase in the developing and globally as well and this has called for attention to the health agencies and sector to embark on research and find the cause. Simultaneously, an equivalent increases in the number of mild cognitive impairment have been increasing and this causes a heath burden threat to what might be the cause of all this incidence and more to the aging persons (http://jaha.ahajournals.org/).

Most of the researches have shown a strong link and connection between cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the risk factors associated with it and the increased incidences of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline in individuals. It is therefore, true to suggest that most of the people diagnosed with subclinical cardiovascular disease possess a greater probability to be affected dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. In this context then most of the cardiovascular risk factors have a strong link to causing Alzheimer’s disease. Looking for example is the high-blood pressure, high, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and diabetes. In this connection, low or moderate alcohol intake appears to be protective for the cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease (Toledo, & Trojanowski, 2013). Alzheimer’s disease may be connected to cardiovascular disease, due to vascular risk factors. Preventing the cause of Plague build up in arteries, which is arthrosclerosis, prevents the buildup of plague in the brain, which could minimize risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Cognitive impairment is highly prevailing in the history, and it accounts for a massive part of the burden of disability and the use of healthcare assets. The principal types of dementia are Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. For several years, atherosclerosis was not considered to play a role in Alzheimer disease.

Specifically, women with myocardial infarction or other vascular diseases, such as peripheral artery disease, and invasive procedures, as well as coronary bypass surgery or carotid endarterectomy, were at privileged risk. On the other hand, no meaningful relationships were found for either atrial fibrillation or heart failure. Hypertension and diabetes were experiential to increase the risk of cognitive decline in women, while no significant trend was seen for adiposity. After excluding women with event stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) events after baseline, the authors found that the past of myocardial infarction and angina remained strongly associated with cognitive decline.

The authors did not account any etiological diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (i.e., vascular or degenerative), but they assessed the occurrence of mild cognitive impairment and probable Alzheimer disease. Since there has been a significant evolution in defining the features of cognitive syndromes associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease and their manifestations, it would have been useful to know Alzheimer disease, to assess the association of each disease with its risk factors accurately. Moreover, neuroimaging data were not reported, so that the company of parenchymal brain lesions remained unknown. Since vascular disease may signify vascular or degenerative processes, neuroimaging could have detected infarcts, white matter deterioration, and deeper or lobar microbleeds that would have helped in identifying small vessel disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy Despite these restrictions, the study was performed using appropriate neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric examination with a sufficient follow-up.

Literature review

Yes, both cardiovascular diseases and Alzheimer’s disease correlates because of several factors common to the diseases. Looking for instance, the case of cardiovascular diseases which is a heart related disorder and the flow of blood in both the arteries and body veins. We may associate the cardiovascular as a lifestyle disease which affect quite number of individuals in the society. Because of the increased consumption and intake of foods with cholesterol ingredients, they accumulate and later deposits or find their way to the blood vessels, which later take the form of plague in the body. The deep layer that forms in the blood arteries and veins results from the consumption of cholesterol. As the accumulation increases, it results to reduced flow of blood in the body arteries and vein. Due to this, the body organs and tissues begin to receive amount of oxygenated blood and degenerate slowly. With this situation the blood vessel rich in oxygen to the brain is greatly affected. Due to this impact on the blood vessel carrying blood rich in oxygen, it causes the brain cells to degenerate which later results to Alzheimer’s disease (Alzheimer’s Association, 2012).

According to Alzheimer’s Association, (2012) in their research has however revealed that there exist a convincing correlation between the traditional cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the society. To both the longitudinal and cross-sectional epidemiological studies, there exist a statistically significant link and correlation between the two human diseases. They also associate the cardiovascular disease with the increases incidences and prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia. In the sane state any form of dietary rich in fats, cholesterol, smoking, alcohol consumption among other homeostatic factors have a correlation. Therefore, the cardiovascular risk factors with close connection with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) include the age-dependent since the incidence and prevalence of AD increases with age bracket of individuals. Therefore, aging is a strong associate attribute to the situations. In this conjunction the pathogenic mechanism common for atherosclerotic and AD including the inflammation state and free radical generation have a significant link. If this is the scenario then the modifiable factor that are risk for the AD turn to be a priority for research with an intervention to lower the risk factors associated to CVD

According to researcher, Haring et al, (2013), in his findings showed that women aged 65-80 who are diagnosed with cases of CVD will eventually be affected with health cases of AD. The Coronary arthrosclerosis according to the research has a significant link and correlation to AD and cognitive impairment among calcium content in the arteries. It is therefore true that any form of prevention of factors thought to cause the CVD (chronic heart disease) will eventually be applied to lower the level of brain cells degeneration and cognitive impairment. Regarding vascular danger factors such as systolic hypertension and diabetes mellitus, a relationship with cognitive turn down seems more obvious. Systolic Hypertension is a significant modifiable risk factor for the late-life cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer disease, although some studies have reported a J- or U-shaped relation. Observational studies point to some benefit from antihypertensive action to reduce the joint development of Alzheimer disease. Chronic hyperglycemia, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes is associated with cognitive decline, about the vascular and neural injury, with beneficial changes in cerebral blood flow and neural injury following recurring episodes of hypoglycemia.

A meta-analysis has revealed that a high waist-hip ratio is linked with a greater risk of dementia in all studies. . on the contrary, Haring et al. did not report an association between adiposity and cognitive decline. The Framingham Offspring Study establish a correlation between waist-hip ratio and lower cognitive function, intensification the possibility of an association between hypertension and Alzheimer disease in the highest quartile of waist-hip ratio, but also suggestive of an important role for confounding factors.

Haring et al. did not report a correlation sandwiched between the presence of atrial fibrillation or heart failure and cognitive turndown. Previous studies have reported that a subclinical reduces in cardiac output is linked with the lower cognitive function, which may be due to reducing systemic perfusion affecting cerebral perfusion homeostasis. These differences between past versus Haring, et al. studies, are probably because while a wide range of confounding factors was considered in the present study, residual confounding factors were present, but not evidenced. Indeed, the relative number of incident and may have limited the power of the analysis. Furthermore, relatively healthy postmenopausal women were built-in, which may have underestimated the real association present in the general population between particular cardiovascular disease, such as atrial fibrillation or heart malfunction, and cognitive turndown.

The last communication conveyed by the learning of Haring et al. is that indiscriminate atherosclerosis and its risk factors take part in a pivotal role in the etiology of Alzheimer disease while a decrease in cardiac output seems less dangerous. Several plausible mechanisms that underlie this relationship have been hypothesized, including ischemic lesions affecting specific neuronal networks, or ischemia triggering a host inflammatory response leading to neuronal degeneration. The avoidance of chronic vascular disease by identifying and treating all adaptable risk factors may thus help reduce the general incidence of mild cognitive impairment and subsequent Alzheimer disease.

In conclusion, then CVD is directly associated to the cause of AD in human being. A part from the cardiovascular disease other cases of high-blood pressure or hypertension and diabetes has a greater risk for causing Alzheimer’s diseases. Due to this impact of the cardiovascular and vascular diseases on the all issue of AD and cognitive impairment have drawn attention to the health agencies to move fast and find a solution. This is because as the cases of AD increase globally and more so to the developing countries it is posing a greater problem and this has necessitated research to the potential prevention of CVD and the preservation of Alzheimer’s disease.