Atrial fibrillation between the ages of 45 and 50 is 3.3 times higher risk of dementia
Mar 31, 2025
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Dr. Julián Rodriguez Garcia's team at the University of Belbithe Hospital in Barcelona, Spain, recently said at the European Heart Association conference (EHRA 2025) in Vienna, Austria, that a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation before the age of 70 increases the risk of dementia by 21%, especially before the age of 65.
Atrial fibrillation is a sign of cardiac rhythm abnormalities in which the heart rate is fast and irregular. The normal heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute, while people with atrial fibrillation suffer an irregular and fast heartbeat of more than 400 beats per minute.
Atrial fibrillation is considered a major risk factor for 'stroke', which ranks second in the world in terms of death.
Using data from the primary care research and development system in Catalonia, Spain, the research team tracked the relationship between atrial fibrillation diagnosis and dementia development for an average of 13 years in 2,528,839 people over the age of 45 and had no history of dementia in 2007.
At the beginning of the study, 79,820 people had a history of atrial fibrillation diagnosis.
As a result of analyzing other factors affecting dementia, atrial fibrillation was found to be a weak dementia predictor associated with a 4% increase in dementia risk, but the association between atrial fibrillation and dementia was found to vary greatly with age.
Patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation between the ages of 45 and 50 had a 3.3 times higher risk of developing dementia than those who did not. On the other hand, no association with increased dementia was found in people diagnosed with atrial fibrillation after the age of 70.
Further analysis showed that patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation before the age of 70 had an overall 21% increased risk of dementia, especially a 36% increased risk of early onset dementia.
In addition, in the sensitivity analysis conducted excluding stroke cases before the follow-up period, atrial fibrillation was associated with a 6% increase in dementia in the total population, but atrial fibrillation diagnosed before age 70 was associated with a 23% increase in overall dementia risk and a 52% increase in early-onset dementia.
The research team said "This study suggests an important and strong link between atrial fibrillation and dementia pathology in young patients."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
