Study shows cognitive benefits of comprehensive heart patient treatment

It is common for patients in heart failure to show cognitive dysfunction, known in the past as cardiogenic dementia. However, by evaluating and treating some coexisting conditions observed in these patients, such as salt imbalances, anemia and hyperglycemia, their cognitive functions may improve independently of the underlying cardiac problems, according to the researchers.

In a study published in The American Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Catholic University in Rome, Italy and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina examined records from 16,913 patients. Of these, 1,511 suffered heart failure and 526 (35%) also exhibited cognitive dysfunction. Low serum albumin, sodium and potassium levels, hyperglycemia, anemia, and systolic blood pressure levels were independently associated with cognitive impairment.

According to one of the researchers, Dr Giuseppe Zuccala, “Among older patients with heart failure, cognitive dysfunction has been associated with a fivefold increase in the risk of mortality, and a sixfold increase in the probability of dependence for the activities of daily living.

“Our data indicate that normalization of glucose, potassium, and hemoglobin levels during hospital stay is associated with increased cognitive performance at discharge. This confirms the need for a comprehensive approach to heart failure in older populations.”