Having an elevated resting heart rate in old age could be an independent risk factor of dementia, a new Swedish study has found.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet examined if resting heart rate in 2,147 individuals aged 60 years and over could be linked to dementia and cognitive decline, independent of other known risk factors, such as cardiovascular disease.
Their findings are published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Because resting heart rate is easy to measure and can be lowered through exercise or medical treatment, the researchers believe it could identify people with higher dementia risk for early intervention.
The study, which drew on data from the Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), followed the participants for up to 12 years and the team found those with a resting heart rate of 80 beats per minute or higher had, on average, a 55% greater risk of dementia than those with a heart rate of 60-69 beats per minute.
The association remained significant even after they adjusted for potential confounders such as various cardiovascular diseases.
However, the team says they remain cautious because the result may have been affected by undetected cardiovascular events and the fact that more participants with cardiovascular disease died during the follow-up period and did not have time to develop dementia.
Lead author Yume Imahori, a researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, said: “We believe it would be valuable to explore if resting heart rate could identify patients with high dementia risk.
“If we follow such patients’ cognitive function carefully and intervene early, the onset of dementia might be delayed, which can have a substantial impact on their quality of life.”
Imahori Y, Vetrano DL, Xia X et al. Association of resting heart rate with cognitive decline and dementia in older adults: a population-based cohort study. Alzheimer’s & Dementia 6 December 2021; doi: 10.1002/alz.12495.
Leave a Reply