From the Guardian:
"A study found that patients being treated for atrial fibrillation (AF) were less likely to develop dementia if they were taking anticoagulants. Their risk was reduced by up to 48% compared with others with the same condition who were not prescribed the drugs. "
Many thanks for this post. The BBC highlighted it as headlines in to-day's Daily Express. It looks as if there's hope for us all!!!
The bit that caused my eyebrows to raise - 444,000 Swedish AF patents.
Yes, and the population of Sweden is only roughly the same as that of London!
Thank you for sharing. It might only be a small trial but still sounds very good news. I’ll accept any bonus that comes my way - and that’s a very good one !
This article raises a couple of questions for me - sorry to be a twerp.
The figure 444,000 is strange - 4.4% of the population with AF in Sweden seems very high.
A reduction in any risk is good but 48% still leaves a sizeable risk of dementia compared with the non-AF population to my reading.
However, if there ever was a case for taking anti-coagulants - this is it, surely.
Thank you for the link, Koll.
High isn't it, that's basically 1/2 million out of 10 million, or 1 in 20. In the UK that would translate to roughly 3 million with AF, assuming the same frequency. But we've only got 1 million diagnosed I read somewhere.
But maybe it's correct, as I've met quite a few people who've described what sounds like AF to me but they know nothing about it.
Well if my memory gets any worse, I'll be part of the percentage of people who aren't helped by taking anticoagulants. Have been taking them for over 10 years and the rate of my mental decline is such that I'll have to talk to my GP if it gets any worse. Honestly I can't remember who told me what, when or where and I might have only been told in the last few days.
Jean
Same here Jean, think (hope) it's just normal. At 67 my memory is deteriorating quite quickly, both short term and long-term.
I did read somewhere that it's not just losing memory, it's also because when we get older, there's so much stuff stored in there that it takes longer to recall.
Hmm is it the age I wonder? I'm 67 in December! It's good to hear I'm not alone.
I'm not helped by having friends who are totally on the ball and remember names of well known people. I just need to think about it for a bit longer, perhaps we just have a slower memory retrieval response.
Ditto
I can identify with that, Jean. I meet a lot of new people in my job and find I've forgotten their names as soon as I leave a meeting. Clearly the Apixaban came too late for me!
Population rates of AF are about 5%. See this study: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/290...
For people without AF aged around 50, 4.4% of women and 6.4% of men developed AF after 12 years.
In this trial: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/290...
In the US the rate of AF was 4.7% in 2004, increasing to 6.4% in 2016
Thank you Koll for bringing up the very important topic of dementia and AF. I'm starting a new post on this subject. I used to work as a psychologist with older adults - we supported a lot of patients and their families, having a range of dementia issues. Now I'm struggling with cognitive problems!
AF and Dementia Risk
Atrial fibrillation: medicines to help reduce your risk of a stroke – what are the options?
anesthesia causing dementia?
importance of controlled INR
What do anticoagulants reduce our stroke risk to?
