¶ … Alzheimer's (Dementia) Disease Responsible for Congestive Heart Failure? Approximately four million Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The disease affects nearly one out of ten Americans over the age of 65 and nearly half of those over 85 (Davis, 1997). Of all Alzheimer's patients, about 28% also have congestive heart failure, leading researchers to pursue studies attempting to correlate Alzheimer's disease directly with congestive heart failure.

About Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease is a disorder that causes the gradual loss of brain cells (Davis, 1997). The disease was first described in 1906 by German physician Dr. Alois Alzheimer and was once considered rare. However, today's research shows that it is the leading cause of dementia in older adults.

Alzheimer's disease progresses at various different rates. The duration of the illness could vary from 3 to 20 years. The areas of the brain that control memory and thinking skills are hindered first, but as the disease gets worse, cell die in other regions of the brain. Eventually, most Alzheimer's victims will need complete care. Even if an individual has no other serious illness, the loss of brain function on its own will cause death.

Most Alzheimer's victims die of heart failure, pneumonia or strokes, since the symptoms of the disease and a series of strokes are indistinguishable.

About Congestive Heart Failure

Heart failure does not mean that the heart has suddenly stopped working (AHA). Instead, heart failure means that the heart is not pumping as well as it should to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the body's cells.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) occurs when the heart's weak pumping action causes a buildup of fluid called congestion in the lungs and other body tissues.

CHF usually develops slowly. Many people go for years without symptoms, and the symptoms tend to get worse with time. This slow onset and progression of CHF is caused by the heart's own efforts to deal with its gradual weakening. The heart tries to make up for this weakening by enlarging and by forcing itself to pump faster to move more blood through the body.

There are many potential causes of congestive heart failure (Coats, 1997). The major causes are hypertension...

Over a period of time, poorly controlled high blood pressure causes the heart to get stiff, causing fluid to build up.
Heart attacks cause the heart muscle to die, and if a large enough part of heart muscle dies, blood is not pumped to the rest of the body effectively.

Correlation Between Alzheimer's and CHD

The major points in understanding the link between Alzheimer's and congestive heart failure are common risk factors -- hypertension and dementia (Kuman, 1998). New research suggests risk factors for congestive heart disease, including hypertension, also contribute to dementia

Research shows that the risks for developing both Alzheimer's and CHP may be reduced by taking early steps to treat high blood pressure. According to rhe Alzheimer's Association, evidence shows that a history of hypertension may be a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. This also holds true for CHP.

The risk of Alzheimer's disease related to the treatable risk factors of elevated cholesterol and blood pressure appeared to be greater than the risk related to the Apolipoprotein E. allele, one of the highest genetic risk factors for the disease.

Additional studies suggest that hypertension is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (Cluff, 1990). A cross-sectional study of 1,560 elderly individuals with symptoms of memory impairment found a correlation between blood pressure and cognitive decline.

Hypertensive patients were significantly more frequent in the group with Alzheimer's disease (67%) and vascular or mixed dementia (78%) compared to the group without dementia (56%).

Congestive heart failure occurs commonly in patients with dementia or depression, and increasingly in patients over 75 years of age. Demented patients may not be able to remember or articulate the classic symptoms of heart failure or congestive heart failure.

Hypertensive people have up to ten times the normal risk of stroke, depending on the severity of the blood pressure (AHA). Hypertension is also an important cause of so-called silent cerebral infarcts, which are blockages in the blood vessels in the brain that may predict major stroke or progression to dementia over time.

Hypertension precedes congestive heart failure in between…