A link established between atrial fibrillation and dementia

Even when this heart rhythm disorder does not cause a stroke – its most serious consequence – atrial fibrillation can increase the risk of developing dementia. It is the conclusion of a thesis defended by a scientist from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

Atrial fibrillation affects at least 750,000 people in France, probably more since this so-called “silent” disease can exist without symptoms appearing, and it is considered that after the age of 80, one person in two is affected by this disease. AF causes heart rhythm disturbances that lead to a risk of stroke due to the formation of clots since it prevents proper evacuation of blood from the atrium. If we already knew the link between atrial fibrillation and the risk of dementia following “a stroke, this is the first time that this link has been established without incidence of stroke.

A risk of dementia considered “high”

The thesis defended by Lina Ryden, who holds a doctorate in neuropsychiatric epidemiology at the University of Gothenburg, is based on data from 70-year-old people examined in 2000 and followed up to 82 years of age and others aged from 70 years old and examined in 2014 to determine who among these people had developed dementia. The analysis of these data makes it possible to emphasize that the risk of dementia linked to atrial fibrillation is “high”.

Several reasons can, according to Lina Ryden’s thesis, explain this risk: impaired blood flow to the brain due to dysfunction of the cardiac “pump”, “silent” cerebral infarctions, i.e. which have gone unnoticed but which have caused damage to small cerebral vessels, or the inflammatory process triggered by the disease leading to oxygen deficiency which can affect the brain.

Below, our Questions to Experts program on: “How to spot and treat atrial fibrillation”: