Don't salt a wounded heart
It seems like every disease is linked to an increased risk for some other disease. And heart failure is no different. Research has linked heart failure to an increased risk of dementia in elderly patients. Older studies had long found an association between heart failure and mental impairment, but few studies had ever directly linked heart failure to dementia. Researchers discovered the link when they examined a group of 1,301 people living in nursing home communities. All of the participants were 75 years of age or older. None of these folks had dementia when the study began, but 205 did have heart failure.
The researchers monitored the patients for nine years. By the time the study was completed, 440 people had developed dementia (with 333 of those patients being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease). And researchers had found an 84 percent increased risk of dementia and an 80 percent increased risk of Alzheimer's disease among patients with heart failure.
The study suggests that the poor blood circulation to the brain (a problem often caused by heart failure) deprives it of nutrient-rich oxygen. This could be the reason why patients are more likely to suffer dementia or Alzheimer's disease. They also noted that patients who took medications for high blood pressure had a significantly lower risk of dementia (38 percent).
Drug options aside, one of the most important things a heart failure patient can do is to monitor—and preferably decrease—his or her sodium intake. Sodium causes your body to retain fluid. To circulate that extra fluid, your heart has to pump harder. People with heart failure—which means their hearts are working overtime, struggling to pump fluid as it is—shouldn't add to the burden by supplying an extra strain to their hearts. Be sure to watch for hidden sodium in foods you wouldn't even suspect, such as in cereals and breads.
