Post-cardiovascular disease healthy lifestyle, inflammation and metabolic biomarkers, and risk of dementia

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with an increased risk of dementia, but the impact of healthy lifestyle on post-CVD dementia remains unclear. A study explored the association between post-CVD healthy lifestyle factors and risk of dementia and examined whether inflammation and metabolic biomarkers played a role in this association.
The prospective cohort study included 77,324 dementia-free participants with prevalent CVD from the UK Biobank. The lifestyle score were constructed based on no current smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, regular physical activity, healthy diet, adequate sleep duration, less sedentary behaviour, and frequent social contact. The association of healthy lifestyle with risk of CVD-related dementia was examined. Mediation models were fitted to investigate the underlying mechanisms driven by systemic inflammation, lipid profiles, liver/renal function, and blood pressure indices.
Over a median follow-up of 12.43 y, 1605 all-cause dementia (ACD) cases were documented, including 646 Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) cases and 427 vascular dementia (VaD) cases. Healthy lifestyle scores were significantly associated with lower risk of dementia. The hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the participants with 6-7 healthy lifestyle score were 0.50 (0.40, 0.62) for ACD, 0.80 (0.58, 1.10) for AD, and 0.30 (0.19, 0.48) for VaD, compared their counterpart with 0-1 score. Low-grade inflammatory markers and specific metabolic biomarkers were detected to significantly mediated the observed associations, explaining 1%-11% of the associations of healthy lifestyle factors with dementia risk.
Adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviours is significantly associated with a lower risk of dementia in individuals with CVD. The observed associations may be partly explained by a reduction in systemic inflammation and the promotion of metabolic balance.
Source: Tian F, Wang Y, Wei S, Zhang C, Wu G, Zhang Z, Ai B, Wang X, Wang C, Lin H. Post-cardiovascular disease healthy lifestyle, inflammation and metabolic biomarkers, and risk of dementia: a population-based longitudinal study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 Mar;121(3):511-521.