A landmark study involving more than 13,000 participants has found that changes in brain blood vessels, which elevate the risk of stroke and dementia, are common in individuals with heart conditions, even without a history of stroke. The research emphasizes the critical need for recognizing these brain changes in heart patients to better guide treatment choices and underscores the importance of further studies to enhance the safety and effectiveness of treatments for these individuals.
“But it can make them more susceptible to the risk of brain bleeds from medications commonly used to treat or prevent blood clots – intracranial hemorrhage is a life-threatening complication with no proven treatment and a survival rate of less than 50 percent.” “It’s possible that a gradual decline in cardiac output in some patients with heart disease might affect how much blood is reaching the brain tissue, contributing to vascular changes and cognitive dysfunction in these patients,” he added.