Enlarged Heart Linked to Higher Risk of Dementia

A study published in the American Heart Journal found the risk of dementia nearly doubles in people with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), reports Medical Xpress . Included were 12,665 white and black individuals whose average age at study onset was 57. The team found approximately 4 percent of participants in midlife had LVH and nearly 9 percent of the entire group developed dementia in the next 20 years. Those with LVH also had lower cognitive scores at the start of the study, likely due to long-term hypertension exposure. Although no difference was observed in the rate of cognitive decline between the LVH and non-LVH groups, this could be due to the lower scores in LVH subjects at baseline. "These results underscore the need for hypertension control to prevent injury to the brain tissue and the development of dementia," says the University of Minnesota's Faye Norby. "We recommend that people get regular blood pressure checks throughout their adult life to monitor their blood pressure. If someone does have high blood pressure, it is important to treat it and try to get it back to a normal level so that he or she does not develop LVH."