Atrial Fibrillation May Raise Dementia Risk by 50 Percent

A study in the European Heart Journal found people with atrial fibrillation (A-fib) are at a higher risk of dementia, which can be cut through the use of blood thinners, reports Medical News Today . The researchers examined 262,611 adults 60 and older who lacked A-fib or dementia at baseline in 2004. In the course of the study, 10,435 participants developed A-fib, of whom 24.4 percent also developed dementia. Still, just 14.4 percent of participants without A-fib developed dementia. "People who developed atrial fibrillation had a 50 percent increased risk of developing dementia compared with those who did not develop the condition," said Yonsei University College of Medicine Professor Boyoung Joung. He added that A-fib elevated the risk of Alzheimer's by 30 percent, and more than doubled the risk of vascular dementia. "However, among people who developed atrial fibrillation and who took oral anticoagulants, such as warfarin, or non-vitamin K anticoagulants, such as dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, or edoxaban, the risk of subsequently developing dementia reduced by 40 percent compared with those who did not take anticoagulants," Joung said.