Want to slow down the aging process of your brain? Well, then start keeping you heart healthy, suggests a new study.In the study, people whose hearts pumped less blood had brains that appeared older than the brains of those whose hearts pumped more blood.
Decreased cardiac index, the amount of blood that pumps from the heart in relation to a person's body size, was associated with decreased brain volume using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Researchers observed the link even in those participants who did not have cardiovascular disease, such as heart failure or coronary heart disease. As the brain ages, it begins to atrophy (shrink) and has less volume.
The decrease in brain volume is considered a sign of brain aging. More severe brain atrophy occurs in those with dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease.
"The results are interesting in that they suggest cardiac index and brain health are related," said Angela L. Jefferson, the study's lead author and associate professor of neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine.
"The association cannot be attributed to cardiovascular disease because the relationship also was seen when we removed those participants with known cardiovascular disease from our analyses," Jefferson added.
In the observational study, which cannot establish cause and effect, researchers examined brain and heart MRI information on 1,504 participants of the decades-long Framingham Offspring Cohort who did not have a history of stroke
, transient ischemic attack or dementia. Participants were 34 to 84 years old and 54 percent were women.
Read more: http://www.medindia.net/news/Keep-Your-Heart-Healthy-to-Slow-Down-Brain-Aging-72216-1.htm#ixzz0vXRiEKB1
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