Aspirin: Protects Brain as Well as Heart
Low-dose aspirin may help forestall cognitive decline in elderly women at high cardiovascular risk, Swedish researchers found.
Over a 5-year period, average decline on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was ?0.05 for women on low-dose aspirin compared with a decline of ?0.95 for non-users, according to Anne Börjesson-Hanson, MD, and colleagues from the University of Gothenburg in Mölndal, Sweden.
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Mean age was about 75, and the 10-year cardiovascular risk score was 22% according to the Framingham criteria, which defines high risk for a cardiovascular event as 10% or higher.
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The mechanisms by which low-dose aspirin might confer benefits on cognition in the elderly are uncertain, but the researchers hypothesized that the drug's effects may relate to increasing blood flow to the brain through inhibition of platelet aggregation or by increasing the production of neuroprotective molecules known as docosanoids.
The authors concluded that low-dose aspirin appears to be helpful in maintaining cognitive function in elderly women who are at high cardiovascular risk, but noted that longer follow-up will be needed to fully determine the extent of the effect.
Read more at the link: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Geriatrics/Dementia/35162
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