The relationship between the cardiovascular health and cognitive deterioration of older people is increasingly clear. Far from being a disorder exclusively related with the brain, Alzheimer’s seems to have a significant vascular basis, which requires a re-think of the approach taken to this type of neurodegenerative disease.
During the 2024 CNIC Conference, “Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Brain Health”, participants discussed the pivotal role cardiovascular risk factors play in the onset and progression of different forms of dementia. The conference highlighted that vascular abnormalities affect not only the heart and blood vessels but also the brain. These abnormalities, which may appear many years before the first cognitive symptoms, offer a vital window of opportunity for intervention before damage becomes irreversible.
One of the chief findings discussed is that cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle not only increase the risk of heart diseases but can also cause long-term damage in the brain’s capillary network. Any chronic abnormality in these blood vessels can trigger or accelerate cognitive deterioration.
The traditional approach to neurodegenerative diseases has prioritized their study exclusively from the perspective of the brain; however, recent evidence indicates that the vascular system also plays a pivotal role. This change of paradigm is essential to design more effective prevention and treatment strategies. If they are detected in time and controlled, cardiovascular risk factors can offer a way to reduce the incidence of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
This inclusive approach, which brings together the fields of cardiology and neurology, opens up new possibilities for the treatment of diseases affecting millions of people worldwide. With a better understanding of how the cardiovascular and brain systems interact, inroads can be made in prevention of, and eventually the search for, possible cures for neurodegenerative diseases.
Science is leading us towards a more holistic vision of health, in which the heart and mind are interconnected. Taking care of cardiovascular health by following healthy lifestyle habits and controlling risk factors not only prolongs life, but can also preserve quality of life, avoiding the cognitive deterioration so many people suffer in later life. Increasingly, protecting the heart means protecting the mind.
Population ageing and the sophistication of treatments in developed countries has made it clear that research into prevention is, in general, more efficient than investing in treatment, as Marina Pollán, Director of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) explains in this issue of CNIC Pulse. Delaying the onset of diseases, she says, not only improves the population’s health, but is also the key to maintaining sustainability of the health system. Unlike treatment, in prevention, the challenge is that beneficiaries do not always understand what is happening because the patients of the future don’t know that their disease has been avoided or delayed.
