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Immediate, long-term memory worse among HF patients
Almeida OP. Eur Heart J. 2012;doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehr-467.
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Adults with HF experienced worse immediate and long-term memory and psychomotor speed compared with adults without ischemic heart disease in a recent study.
To determine whether adults with systolic HF showed evidence of cognitive impairment and cerebral gray matter loss, Osvaldo P. Almeida, MD, PhD, professor and Winthrop Chair of Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Western Australia, and colleagues enrolled 35 adults with HF, 56 with ischemic heart disease and 64 controls without HF or ischemic heart disease. All participants were aged 45 years or older and were free of overt cognitive impairment.
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Researchers found evidence of gray matter loss in various cortical and subcortical regions extending to the frontal lobes, anterior cingulated and temporal-parietal lobes among adults with HF. A less extensive pattern of loss of gray matter was found when patients with HF were compared with patients with ischemic heart disease. Compared with noncardiac controls, the Cambridge Cognitive Examination of the Elderly–Revised score for ischemic heart disease patients was 1.8 points lower (P=.101) and 2.8 points lower (P=.029) in patients with HF. Study results showed that on immediate memory, long-delay recall and digit coding, patients with HF had lower scores vs. controls without ischemic heart disease. Patients with ischemic heart disease also had lower long-delay recall scores vs. controls without ischemic heart disease (P=.047).
According to Almeida and colleagues, the data indicate that diseases that can affect the heart can also affect the brain. Patients with HF may have trouble following complex management strategies, and physicians should make treatment messages simple and clear.
“Health professionals and patients need to be aware that problems caused by heart disease are not limited to the heart,” Almeida said in a press release. “For these reasons, primary and secondary prevention are essential to minimize the impact of heart disease on brain structure and function.”
Disclosure: Dr. Almeida reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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