Relation of Cognitive Reserve Indicator to Heart Disease and Cardiac Structure and Function: A Large Community-Based...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Neuroscience
• Public Health

Background:

• Cognitive reserve (CR) is known to reduce dementia risk.
• The association between CR and heart disease (HD) risk and cardiac function is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between cognitive reserve (CR) and the risk of developing heart disease (HD).
• To explore the association of CR with cardiac structure and function.

Main Methods:

• Utilized UK Biobank data from 349,907 participants free of HD.
• Developed a composite CR indicator based on education, occupation, leisure activities, and social connections.
• Employed Cox regression, Laplace regression, and linear regression for data analysis, including cardiac MRI for a subsample.

Main Results:

• High CR was associated with a reduced risk of any HD (HR 0.78), coronary HD (HR 0.68), cardiac arrhythmia (HR 0.91), and heart failure (HR 0.63) compared to low CR.
• High CR was linked to a 1.59-year delay in HD onset.
• High CR correlated with improved cardiac function, including larger left ventricular end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, stroke volume, and ejection fraction.

Conclusions:

• Elevated cognitive reserve (CR) is associated with improved heart disease (HD) health outcomes.
• The protective effects of CR extend beyond dementia prevention to encompass cardiovascular health.