Dementia risk is higher in people with both stroke and irregular heartbeat, reveals latest University research
Edited by Andy Porter > editor@wellbeingnorfolk.co.uk
Stroke patients who also suffer from an irregular heartbeat are at double the risk of developing dementia, according to a new study by the University of East Anglia [UEA].
Published in the journal Neurology, the findings show that stroke survivors with an irregular heartbeat – or atrial fibrillation – are 2.4 times more likely to develop dementia than stroke survivors without the heart condition.
The researchers analysed 15 studies with more than 45,000 participants and an average age of 72. They compared patients with and without atrial fibrillation, and followed–up to determine which developed dementia over time. Around a quarter of patients with both stroke and atrial fibrillation were subsequently found to have developed dementia.