The irregular heartbeat condition called atrial fibrillation, previously known as the sign of heart failure, stroke, blood clots, and other complications related to the heart.
In the Cardiovascular Health Study, Thacker and his team have tracked about 5000 participants age 65 and older. The highest point is 100 points to the thinking tests every year for an average of seven years.
The people age 80 with atrial fibrillation detected had average declines about 10 points in their scores over the next five years, compared with people without atrial fibrillation had average declines in their scores of about six points over the same period. The test results show the average rates of decline differed depending on age.
Thacker believes that his findings show at least two possible explanations.
The first is the small blood clots form in the heart, then lodge in the brain as well as leading to damage over time. It is not causing any immediate symptoms.
The second is due to low output of blood to the brain from the irregular heartbeat may lead to small brain damage that builds up over time.
To learn more about the brains of people with atrial fibrillation, Thacker intend to use brain-imaging technology for studying the cognitive decline link.
“If we could discover the reason, then we might be able to conceive ways to prevent or reduce cognitive decline in people with atrial fibrillation,” Thacker said.
These findings published in the June 5, 2013, in online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
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