Arterial Stiffness and Cognitive Decline in Well-Functioning Older Adults

Abstract

In well-functioning older adults, central arterial stiffness may contribute to cognitive decline independent of hypertension and other vascular risk factors.

Arterial Stiffness Predicts Cognitive Decline in Japanese Community-dwelling Elderly Subjects: A One-year Follow-up Study

“…Furthermore, Yamamoto et al performed a similar analysis in community-dwelling elderly patients; however, the mean age was higher than that noted in our study 18) . Notably, we found that arterial stiffness predicts cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly subjects with a comparably preserved cognitive function, even after adjusting for MMSE may be more sensitive to cerebrovascular alterations due to aging and the MMSE may be too insensitive to accurately detect cognitive changes 17,27) . As a result, further studies are needed to establish evidence clarifying the association between arterial stiffness and the cognitive function.…”

“…Therefore, we assume that the cognitive dysfunction resulting from arterial stiffness is not attributed to dysfunction of the hippocampus. However, other studies have reported that measurements of arterial stiffness do not predict performance for the global cognitive function, as measured according to the MMSE [15][16][17] . There are various possible reasons for this discrepancy: 1) the mean age of the subjects was 57.1 years and the participants were relatively high functioning (ceiling effect of the MMSE) 15) ; 2) many participants dropped out from the follow-up survey and selection bias may have affected the results for the change in the cognitive function 16) ; 3) memory tasks that are more demanding for the executive function and attention association between arterial stiffness and the cognitive function have discussed the causal relationship with this phenomenon 14,17,18,23) .…”

“…However, the subjects in these studies were not elderly individuals living in the community 13,14) . Additionally, other authors have reported that they were unable to validate arterial stiffness as an independent risk factor for cognitive decline, as measured according to the global cognitive function using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) [15][16][17] . Yamamoto et al reported a relationship between the cognitive function and arterial stiffness determined according to the CAVI in community dwelling elderly 18) , although the mean age was approximately 80 years, which is a bit high considering the mean age of community-dwelling elderly individuals in Japan.…”

The Relationship Between Cognitive Functioning and the JNC-8 Guidelines for Hypertension in Older Adults

“…This could mean that the mid-range group had better control. A sensitive and objective measure of subclinical vascular disease such as arterial stiffness, which predicts cognitive decline in older adults (30,31), is not available in the NACC database and could have been useful in validating the BP group classifications. Another limitation is the absence of structural and functional neuroimaging data to delineate potential mechanisms.…”

Randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of canola oil on blood vessel function in peripheral arterial disease: rationale and design of the Canola-PAD Study

“…47,48 Arterial stiffness is one such pathophysiological process that has been linked to accelerated cognitive aging. 3,[48][49][50] The neuropsychological function of PAD patients has not been well studied, especially in response to intervention. In the Canola-PAD Study, we used three tests to obtain a well-rounded assessment of performance in various cognitive domains.…”