I agree, Researcher.
We’ve long known that when hyperviscosity is present and with longer duration Afib, the risk of stroke increases. But, as is often so typical, medical research focus fails to investigate or emphasize the origins of health problems such as the multiple contributing factors that promote hyperviscosity; and just blame the Afib instead.
Here on this forum, we’ve discussed for years, the sticky, thick blood factor caused by environment, diet, lifestyle factors and genetic mutations. Those factors are typically prevalent in dementia as well.
Our well-examined magnesium deficiency topic is also linked to Alzheimer’s disease and we know low magnesium not only can promote Afib but also increased platelet aggregation.
Etiology is of critical importance for prevention and not just with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Jackie
Blood Viscosity: The Role of Blood Flow in Cognitive Function
Monday, 18 June 2012
by Ralph E. Holsworth, DO, and Jonathan V. Wright, MD - Vol. 13, No. 2. Summer, 2012
In April 2012, the World Health Organization published a new report on the alarming worldwide trends in dementia. The report estimated that in 2010, approximately 35.6 million people were living with dementia. By 2030 that number is set to double to 65.7 million.
Blood viscosity has been demonstrated in multiple large clinical trials to have significant links with age-related cognitive impairment. The studies have established empirically the relationship between blood viscosity and cerebral blood flow—a relationship that is also highly intuitive. Importantly, blood viscosity is easily modifiable via nutritional, botanical and pharmacologic treatments.
The pattern of exponential increases in blood viscosity after the age of 60, as reported by the research group at the National Institute of Aging, helps to define an at-risk population that may benefit from blood viscosity monitoring and treatment. The availability of clinically practical instrumentation for blood viscosity measurement, such as is now available at Meridian Valley Laboratory, creates a new avenue for detecting and controlling age-related blood flow disturbances in mid-life and senior adults, especially those 60 years of age and greater.
Continue: [
www.holisticprimarycare.net]
Altered Ionized Magnesium Levels in Mild-To-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease
Magnes Res. 2011; 24(3):115-21.
Barbagallo M, et al.
Summary
Magnesium deficiency is found in several chronic, age-related diseases: cardiovascular, metabolic and neuro-degenerative diseases. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. This research studied magnesium homeostasis in patients with mild to moderate AD. One hundred and one elderly (?65?years) patients were consecutively recruited (mean age: 73.4±0.8?years; M/F: 42/59). In all patients, a comprehensive geriatric assessment was performed including cognitive and functional status. Admission criteria for the AD group (diagnosed according to the DSM-IV and the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria) included: mild to moderate cognitive impairment (MMSE score: 11-24/30, corrected for age and education). Blood samples were analyzed for serum total magnesium (Mg-tot) and serum ionized magnesium (Mg-ion). AD patients had significantly lower MMSE scores, and for the physical function tests. Mg-ion was significantly lower in the AD group as compared to age-matched control adults without AD. No significant differences were found in Mg-tot between the two groups. For all subjects, Mg-ion levels were significantly and directly related only to cognitive function, while no significant correlations were found in this group of patients between magnesium and ADL or IADL. Our results show the presence of subclinical alterations in Mg-ion in patients with mild to moderate AD.
[
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Lifestyle:
Eur J Intern Med. 2011 Apr;22(2):134-40. doi: 10.1016/j.ejim.2010.12.017. Epub 2011 Jan 26.
Nutrition and Alzheimer's disease: the detrimental role of a high carbohydrate diet.
Seneff S1, Wainwright G, Mascitelli L.
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease is a devastating disease whose recent increase in incidence rates has broad implications for rising health care costs. Huge amounts of research money are currently being invested in seeking the underlying cause, with corresponding progress in understanding the disease progression. In this paper, we highlight how an excess of dietary carbohydrates, particularly fructose, alongside a relative deficiency in dietary fats and cholesterol, may lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease. A first step in the pathophysiology of the disease is represented by advanced glycation end-products in crucial plasma proteins concerned with fat, cholesterol, and oxygen transport. This leads to cholesterol deficiency in neurons, which significantly impairs their ability to function. Over time, a cascade response leads to impaired glutamate signaling, increased oxidative damage, mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction, increased risk to microbial infection, and, ultimately, apoptosis. Other neurodegenerative diseases share many properties with Alzheimer's disease, and may also be due in large part to this same underlying cause.
Copyright © 2011 European Federation of Internal Medicine. PMID: 21402242 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Cardiovascular 03.04.2013
Atrial fibrillation carries a significant risk for cognitive decline, even when stroke is not involved, a meta-analysis found.
In 14 observational and prospective studies of patients with or without stroke, the relative risk of cognitive impairment was 1.40 (95% CI 1.19 to 1.64), according to Jeremy N. Ruskin, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues.
The risk was similar when researchers excluded cognitive impairment and analyzed the studies only for dementia, “which is more reliably diagnosed than cognitive impairment,” (RR 1.38, 95% CI 1.22 to 1.56), they reported March 4 (2013) in the Annals of Internal Medicine. [
www.medpagetoday.com]
Alzheimer’s disease is the fastest growing health threat in the United States according to a new landmark report from researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle. A 2013 study in the journal Neurology found that the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease will jump from 4.7 million to 13.8 million by 2050. Associated health care costs will skyrocket from $200 billion to more than $1 trillion by 2050, increasing the cost of Medicaid and Medicare by 500 percent.
In America, a new case of Alzheimer’s develops every 68 seconds; by 2050, the incidence will increase to every 33 seconds.