Beating dementia

A NEW report has, for the first time, revealed a possible link between dementia and an irregular heartbeat or atrial fibrillation.

The data involved 37 countries and was headed by Australian Ben Freedman.

While Professor Freedman said the discovery could be a “game changer”, he said more research was needed to find out why there was a link.

“People with AF are at increased risk of dementia, and the link is independent of stroke and other risk factors,” he said.

“Whether the link is causal is not yet known, but if we knew what to do in people with AF, we might be able to intervene.”