|
Artery plaques affect thinking ability in elderly
Last Updated: 2005-07-22 16:16:39 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The build-up of cholesterol plaques in
arteries, a common occurrence with aging, contributes to the reduced
thinking ability seen in many elderly individuals, but not to
depression, according to findings published in the medical journal
Neurology.
Dr. D. J. Vinkers, of Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands,
and colleagues followed 599 subjects, 85 years of age or older. The
presence of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack or stroke,
were used to estimate the degree of plaque build-up in the blood vessels.
As plaque build-up increased, overall thinking ability, attention
levels, and mental reaction speed fell, the report indicates. Moreover,
high levels of plaque build-up on initial evaluation predicted a more
rapid decline in memory ability during follow-up.
As noted, the degree of plaque build-up was not associated with symptoms
of depression.
Several possible mechanisms that may explain the relationship between
plaque build-up and impaired thought processes have been suggested,
including decreased blood flow to brain regions involved in thinking
ability, Vinkers and colleagues note.
SOURCE: Neurology, July 2005.
|
