Cardiac health and Mental impairment

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Mental impairment and decline in cardiac health are two common complaints of advancing age. A new study, published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, suggests that there may be a link between the conditions; specifically, a decline in heart health may lead to cognitive impairment in elderly women.


According to study author Dae Hyun Kim, a healthy heart naturally varies its rate and rhythm throughout the day in response to physical and mental demands. "Advancing age and disease can lower the heart's ability to change its rate and rhythm, which can be associated with changes in mental function," says Kim. How this occurs is not clearly known.


Kim says that further research into the connection between cardiac and mental health is important. “Mental impairment in the elderly is a major public health issue, and has significant effects on caregivers, the healthcare system and society.” Identifying contributing risk factors, such as heart health, could help seniors to avoid this debilitating condition.

The primary goal of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is to publish articles that are relevant in the broadest terms to the clinical care of older persons. Such articles may span a variety of disciplines and fields and may be of immediate, intermediate, or long-term potential benefit to clinical practice. For more information, please visit blackwellpublishing.com/jgs.