Heart patient or brain injury patient?

Heart diseases may cause brain injury

Research shows that the heart and brain are strongly connected and influence each other. They have the same risk factors.


Heart problems can have a major impact on the body and can even disrupt blood flow to the brain.
This can lead to a lack of oxygen or a stroke in the brain, which can result in cognitive problems or brain damage.
The word "cognition" refers to everything related to thinking. It refers to how your brain works
to perceive, understand, remember, and use that knowledge.
Symptoms of a lack of oxygen vary, from mild memory loss and difficulty concentrating to more serious neurological and neuropsychological problems. It is important to understand this connection. This allows doctors to make the correct diagnosis more quickly and begin the appropriate treatment and rehabilitation immediately.

 

Three common heart conditions in adult: heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and coronary heart diseas, are often associated with cognitive impairment. More information about these possible cognitive functions can be found behind the link.

 

List of heart diseases that may cause brain injury

  • Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat that increases the risk of blood clots.
    These clots may enter the bloodstream and become lodged in the brain's blood vessels, leading to
    a stroke.
  • Valve disease may disrupt blood circulation, preventing the brain from receiving enough oxygen. This may lead to brain damage due to a lack of oxygen.
  • A heart attack may severely disrupt the supply of blood and oxygen to the brain. This may lead to brain damage due to a lack of oxygen.
  • Heart failure reduces blood flow to the brain, which may lead to brain damage due to a lack of oxygen.
    Brain injury caused by heart failure is associated with changes in the parts of the brain important for thinking and emotions. It may result in cognitive impairment, mood problems, and a decrease in gray matter (brain cells) in various brain areas. In addition, it can accelerate brain aging and contribute to functional decline.
  • Cardiac arrest: If resuscitation is successful and the person survives, there is a chance that brain damage has occurred due to a period of oxygen deprivation.

 

Brain damage from cardiovascular disease may also, sooner or later, lead to vascular dementia.


It's important to seek immediate medical attention for symptoms such as confusion, decreased consciousness, dizziness, weakness, or speech problems to prevent permanent damage as much as possible. Read about all the symptoms of a stroke.

 

Brain areas primarily affected by heart failure or poor blood flow to the heart (ischemic heart disease)

Ischemic heart disease causes a decrease in gray matter (brain cells). This primarily affects the left frontal, right frontal, and lateral areas of the brain. It includes parts of the frontal lobe, the temporal lobe, and the parietal lobe (including the precuneus, a part of the parietal lobe).

 

Precuneus

For the professionals (drop-down menu of affected brain areas)

These areas include the left cingulate, the right inferior frontal gyrus, the left middle and superior frontal gyri, the right middle temporal lobe, the right and left anterior cingulate, the right middle frontal gyrus, the inferior and precentral frontal gyri, the right caudate, and occipital-parietal areas, including the precuneus, which is part of the parietal lobe of the cerebrum.

 

Education about brain damage caused by heart problems is important

Educating heart patients about the potential effects of heart disease on the brain is crucial, during their hospital stay, after discharge or during an outpatient clinic visit.

It provides the patient, her or his partner and the family with the necessary insights and support.

 

If a heart patient refuses to believe that their heart problems have caused brain damage, this could indicate that they don't fully understand the potential consequences of cardiovascular disease. It could also be due to a specific consequence of brain damage: anosognosia, or lack of insight into the disease.

 

However, even more often, the subtle cognitive symptoms are barely noticeable, meaning those around them are often the first to notice the person's changes. It's also possible that the person increasingly notices that something is no longer going well, or that something is no longer happening as naturally. We call these invisible consequences of brain damage. After all, if the consequences had been physical, they would have been noticed much sooner.

 

A neuropsychological investiogation can identify the potential impact of a brain injury on functioning. Read more about this on our neuropsychological examination page.

 

We have developed a checklist for acquired brain injury to help people more quickly recognize which symptoms may be caused by brain damage. It's best if both the patient and their loved ones complete this checklist and compare their answers.

Do this at a calm moment and don't blame the other person for not recognizing something. Insights often come over time, when someone notices a few times that something is no longer working as well as it used to.

The page about determining whether you have a brain injury may also provide insight.

Conversely, acute brain injury may also cause heart problems

An acute brain injury, particularly a stroke, can cause a cardiac complication such as neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy (NSC).

 

The way the brain and heart interact is complex. It involves sympathetic nervous system activity, hormone release from the brain and adrenal glands, and the influence of the immune system and inflammation (hormonal processes of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis).

 

Causes

Heart problems in neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy (NSC) can be caused by various neurological conditions, including traumatic brain injury, cerebral hemorrhage or stroke, central nervous system infections, and epilepsy.
Physical and emotional stress, grief, or anxiety can also trigger this condition, but not in everyone.

In approximately one-third of the patients, no clear cause of the symptoms can be found.

 

Symptoms

Symptoms of neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy are similar to those of a heart attack, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, and fainting, but there is no blockage of the coronary arteries.
It is therefore classified as a heart attack without a blockage in the coronary arteries.

Nevertheless, a doctor will initiate treatment.

 

 

Keywords: Cerebral hypoperfusion, cerebral blood flow disorder; cognitive impairment; brain injury, acquired brain injury, ischemia, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, depression, neuropsychological disorders, heart failure, heart attack, cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, ischemic heart disease, neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy (NSC)

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