Is Alzheimer's Disease Responsible for Congestive Heart Failure?

¶ … 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 and heart attacks. 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 75% and 90% of heart failure cases. While Alzheimer's is responsible for the most severe cases of dementia, including a progressive loss of memory and intellectual function, it does not appear to be the cause of congestive heart failure in its victims. However, research shows that CHF could be caused by dementia.

Dementia can cause the heart to lose some of its blood-pumping ability, as can hypertension (Davis, 1997). Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases the risk of heart failure by 200%, compared with those who do not have hypertension. In addition, the degree of risk appears directly related to the severity of the high blood pressure. Persons with dementia have approximately a two- to eightfold greater risk of heart failure than those without dementia.

Part of the risk comes from dementia' association with other heart failure risk factors, such as high blood pressure, obesity, and high cholesterol levels. However, the disease process in dementia also damages the heart muscle. A single risk factor may be sufficient to cause heart failure, but a combination of factors dramatically increases the risk. Advanced age adds to the potential impact of any heart failure risk. Finally, genetic abnormalities contribute to the risk for certain types of heart disease, which in turn may lead to heart failure.

However, in most instances, a specific genetic link to heart failure has not been identified. When the left ventricle is unable to pump blood out of the left atrium, or when one or more of the heart valves becomes leaky, blood can clog up into the lungs (AHA). When this happens, the lungs become congested with fluid, making it difficult to breathe and interfering with the movement of oxygen from the lungs into the bloodstream. This can result in shortness of breath with exertion.

Many people wake up at night short of breath when they suffer from CHF. This is especially dangerous for Alzheimer's victims, whose lack of memory and cognizance prevents them from dealing with the disease. Conclusion Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly and is the fourth leading cause of death in developed nations. About 70% of dementias are due to Alzheimer's disease. As a person ages, the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease rises significantly. The frequency of Alzheimer's among 60-year-olds is about one percent.

This incidence doubles approximately every five years. It is estimated.