Better Heart Rate in Midlife May Lower Dementia Risk

A study in PLOS Medicine determined that people with better cardiovascular health in midlife are at less risk of developing dementia later, reports Medical News Today . The researchers looked at 1,449 participants from the Finnish Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Dementia study enrolled from 1972-1987 to 1998, and a 744-person cohort without dementia in 2005-2008. The team measured six of seven American Heart Association-recommended cardiovascular health metrics. They then subcategorized these metrics as behavioral or biological. The ideal cardiovascular health metrics were categorized as physical activity causing breathlessness and sweating more than twice a week; a body-mass index under 25; fasting plasma glucose levels of less than 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) without treatment in late life and no diabetes diagnosis or use of diabetes medication in midlife; total serum cholesterol levels of less than 200 mg/dl; blood pressure of less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury without requiring medication; and never smoking or having quit smoking for longer than one year. Participants with an ideal composite cardiovascular health metrics score in midlife were 54 percent less likely to develop dementia than participants with a poor score. Moreover, people with ideal behavioral cardiovascular health metrics scores in midlife had a 58 percent decrease in dementia risk, whereas those with ideal biological cardiovascular health metrics scores in late life were 3.5 times more likely to develop dementia.