Have an irregular heartbeat? You may have an increased risk of dementia

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

People with a particular kind of irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation may experience a faster decline in thinking and memory skills and have a greater risk of dementia than those without atrial fibrillation, according to a study published in the October 10, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

With atrial fibrillation, a form of arrhythmia, the heart’s normal rhythm is out of sync. As a result, blood may pool in the heart, possibly forming clots that may go to the brain, causing a stroke.

The good news from the study is that people with atrial fibrillation who were taking anticoagulants, or blood thinners, to keep their blood from clotting were actually less likely to develop dementia than those who did not take blood thinners.

Read more of the original article from MedicalXpress

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