Study: Detection Of Dementia Risks Through Heart Condition

Heart illustration (Photo: Freepik/Freepik)

JAKARTA - A recent study led by researchers from University College London (UCL) found people who showed signs of heart damage while in middle age had a higher risk of dementia as they grew old.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal and funded by the British Heart Foundation, shows a person with a higher levels of protein named Troponine I in blood, although he has no symptoms of a heart attack but has more potential to experience dementia in the future.

Reporting from the News-Medical.net page, researchers found higher levels of Troponine in those who were eventually diagnosed with dementia for up to 25 years before symptoms appeared.

Troponin is a protein that is released into the bloodstream when the heart muscle is damaged. Usually doctors check very high levels to detect heart attacks.

However, the slightly increased levels of Troponine without any symptoms could indicate persistent heart damage.

This heart damage can affect the health of blood vessels and blood flow to the brain which ultimately has the potential to trigger dementia.

The study involved nearly 6,000 participants fromwaki II Study, a major study that has followed British civil service workers since 1985. All participants underwent high sensitive troponin tests when they were 45'69 years old. No participants had heart disease or dementia when the first test was carried out.

For more than 25 years, participants routinely undergo tests to measure thinking, memory and problem solving abilities. As a result, 695 participants were finally diagnosed with dementia.

Those with dementia turned out to have higher levels of Troponine long before the diagnosis was enforced, ranging from 7 to 25 years earlier.

People with the highest levels of tropical levels at the start of the study had a 38% greater risk of dementia than those with the lowest levels.

After taking into account factors such as gender, ethnicity, and education levels, researchers found that higher levels of Troponine were associated with a faster decline in cognitive abilities.

At the age of 80, their mental abilities are equivalent to people who are almost one and a half years older. At the age of 90, equality of age increased to two years older.

A small group of 641 participants also underwent brain MRI. Fifteen years after the initial Troponine test, those with the highest levels tended to have:

- Smaller campuses, which is an important part of the brain for memory.

- Fewer brain gray layers (grey matter) are important for processing information.

This change is equivalent to brain aging about three years faster.

Researchers emphasize that heart and brain health are closely related. Cardiac damage in the middle age can pave the way for cognitive health decline in old age.

Professor Eric Brunner of UCL said controlling risk factors such as high blood pressure since middle age has the potential to slow down or prevent the development of dementia and heart disease at once.

Lancet Commission in 2024 also estimates that 17% of dementia cases can actually be prevented or delayed by managing cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity, and lack of physical activity.

This study shows that being in middle age is an important period in determining brain health in the old age. Maintaining heart health from an early age means providing greater opportunities for the brain to keep functioning well with age.

Some simple steps that can be done throughout life include:

- Controls blood pressure

- Maintain cholesterol levels

- Active move

- Maintaining ideal weight

- Not smoking

The British Heart Foundation also invested 10 million Euros or Rp194 billion for research on vascular dementia to find better prevention and treatment.

Heart illustration (Photo: Freepik/Freepik)