The risk of dementia is hidden in the heart rate!

Do you usually pay attention to your resting heart rate? It is the number of heartbeats per minute in a completely relaxed state of non-exercise.
In fact, this is a very important health indicator.
More than one study has shown that elevated resting heart rate is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, even more than traditional risk factors.
Larger [1,2], and cardiovascular disease is a known risk factor for dementia, then, is the elevated resting heart rate also associated with dementia? A recent study published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia[3] found that among elderly people 60 years of age and older, the resting heart rate ≥80 beats per minute (bpm) is between 60-69 bpm.
It is associated with a 55% increase in the risk of dementia, and this association is independent of cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease
.

Participants in this study were from the Swedish National Aging and Nursing Research Cohort.
They were 60 years and older and lived in Stockholm, Sweden.
The absence of resting heart rate data at baseline or the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores at baseline were excluded.
After suffering from dementia or MMSE score <24, and non-sinus rhythm and other non-compliant participants, a total of 2147 people were included in the final analysis
.

 The study started from 2001-2004 and followed up to 2013-2016.
During the follow-up period, 289 participants were diagnosed with dementia, with an incidence rate of 14.
9/1000 person-years
.

 After adjusting for a variety of factors (age, gender, education, smoking, exercise, BMI, total cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, beta blockers, non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, digoxin , APOE4 genotype, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease), compared with participants with a resting heart rate of 60-69 bpm, participants with a resting heart rate of ≥80 bpm developed dementia The risk of disease has increased by 55%
.

There was no interaction between resting heart rate and age, gender, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and APOE genotype (all P>0.
10)
.

 After excluding participants who had at least one of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, ischemic heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease at baseline, elevated resting heart rate still had a significant correlation with dementia, and further excluded After the participants who had at least one of these four diseases during the follow-up period, the results remained unchanged
.

 Although the MMSE scores of participants of all ages decreased over time during the follow-up period, compared with participants with a resting heart rate of 60-69 bpm, the two groups of participants of 70-79 bpm and ≥80 bpm were at the same time point The decline is significantly greater
.

Similarly, after excluding participants who had several cardiovascular diseases at baseline or during follow-up, the correlation was still significant
.

 Overall, this study shows that among elderly people 60 years and older, resting heart rate ≥80 bpm is associated with a 55% increase in the risk of dementia in the next 12 years, and this is independent of cardiovascular risk factors and A risk factor for cardiovascular disease
.

At the same time, resting heart rate ≥ 70 bpm is associated with faster decline in cognitive function
.

 Researchers believe that the relationship between elevated resting heart rate and dementia may have several explanations: First, although studies have shown that resting heart rate is independent of cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease risk factors, the research cannot rule out Subclinical state or undiagnosed cardiovascular disease; secondly, resting heart rate may cause endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness by changing the pulsating stress and shear stress on the arterial vessel wall, and arterial stiffness is related to cerebral small vessel disease and cognitive ability Decrease is related; third, impaired autonomic tone reflected by increased resting heart rate is a risk factor for poor cognitive function; fourth, higher resting heart rate may reflect less exercise, which is also dementia One of the risk factors.
Although the study counted exercise habits at baseline, it did not record its dynamic changes during follow-up.
Long-term continuous exercise habits may better reflect the impact on the risk of dementia
.

 One of the corresponding authors of the study, researcher Yume Imahori of Karolinska Institutet, said that it is very valuable to explore whether resting heart rate can be used as a predictor of dementia and help to detect changes in cognitive function in the elderly.
, Through some interventions, delay the decline of cognitive function, postpone the occurrence of dementia, thereby improving their quality of life [4]
.

 References: [1] Aune D, ó Hartaigh B, Vatten L J.
Resting heart rate and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of cohort studies[J].
Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2015, 25(6): 526-534.
[2] Tadic M, Cuspidi C, Grassi G.
Heart rate as a predictor of cardiovascular risk[J].
European journal of clinical investigation, 2018, 48(3): e12892.
[3] Imahori Y, Vetrano DL, Xia X, et al.
Association of resting heart rate with cognitive decline and dementia in older adults: A population‐based cohort study[J].
Alzheimer's & Dementia.
[4] https: //news.
ki.
se/elevated-heart-rate-linked-to-increased-risk-of-dementia