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Vascular diseases and old age mental disorders: an update of neuroimaging findings
Tânia C de Toledo Ferraz Alves1, Luiz K Ferreira, Geraldo F Busatto
1Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil. tania_alves@hotmail.com
Insights
Cardiovascular issues like hypertension and diabetes are linked to brain changes that increase the risk of dementia and depression in older adults. Early detection of these vascular effects may help prevent psychiatric disorders.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Cardiovascular Disorders
- Geriatric Psychiatry
Background:
- Cardiovascular diseases are prevalent in the elderly.
- Psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, depression, and bipolar disorder significantly impact the aging population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review neuroimaging findings in patients with cardiovascular disorders.
- To examine the association between these findings and the onset of psychiatric disorders in the elderly.
- To explore the pathophysiological and clinical implications for geriatric psychiatry.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of neuroimaging studies.
- Analysis of reported findings in patients with cardiovascular disorders.
- Correlation of cerebrovascular dysfunction with psychiatric disorder onset.
Main Results:
- Vascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking, heart failure) correlate with cerebrovascular dysfunction.
- Neuroimaging reveals structural changes (lesions, stroke) and functional deficits (hypoperfusion, hypometabolism).
- These brain abnormalities are associated with an increased risk of depression, bipolar disorder, and dementia in older adults.
Conclusions:
- Early identification of cardiovascular disease-related brain changes is crucial.
- Potentially modifiable vascular risk factors detected in midlife can inform prevention strategies.
- These findings offer new perspectives for preventing psychiatric disorders in old age.
Purpose Of Review:
To review neuroimaging findings that have been reported in samples of patients with cardiovascular disorders and their association with the onset of Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, depression and bipolar disorder in the elderly and to highlight the implications of these findings to the knowledge about the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders in old age, as well as their potential clinical implications.
Recent Findings:
Vascular risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking habits and heart failure, have all been associated with signs of cerebrovascular dysfunction, including structural MRI findings of signal hyperintensities, lacunes and stroke and functional imaging findings of brain regional hypoperfusion and hypometabolism. Such brain abnormalities have been found to increase the risk of onset of psychiatric disorder (depression, bipolar and dementia) in old age.
Summary:
As vascular risk factors are potentially modifiable when detected in midlife, the early characterization of brain changes associated with the presence of cardiovascular diseases holds promise to afford clinical applications in psychiatry, providing new perspectives for the prevention of old age psychiatric disorders.
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