WASHINGTON, D.C.: Warfarin has been used for many years and is prescribed in large quantities across the industrialized world. New research, presented at the Heart Rhythm Society’s 37th Annual Scientific Sessions, used data from more than 10,000 patients to investigate links between warfarin, dementia, and AF.
Each of the participants in the study was a long-term user of warfarin. Some used the drug for AF, others used it for different conditions including thromboembolism and valvular heart disease. None had a history of dementia.
After 7 years, the group was followed up. The team found that dementia was more prevalent in the AF group than the non-AF group, 5.8 percent compared with 1.6 percent, respectively.
The study was conducted by Dr. T. Jared Bunch and a team of researchers at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, UT. They showed that individuals using warfarin for AF on a long-term basis had increased rates of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s when compared with warfarin users with conditions other than AF…