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People with healthier heart structure and function appear to have better cognitive abilities, including increased capacity to solve logic problems and faster reaction times, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London and the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at University of Oxford.
Dr Zahra Raisi-Estabragh, BHF Clinical Research Training Fellow at Queen Mary University of London said: Heart disease and dementia are important and growing public health problems, particularly in ageing populations. We already knew that patients with heart disease were more likely to have dementia, and vice versa, but we ve now shown that these links between heart and brain health are also present in healthy people. We demonstrated for the first time, in a very large group of healthy people, that individuals with healthier heart structure and function have better cognitive performance.
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People with unhealthy heart structures and poorer functioning hearts have a significantly higher risk of being diagnosed with COVID-19 infection, according to research by Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (The University of Southampton).
The researchers made use of the comprehensive and internationally unique UK Biobank database, which includes health and genetic information from over half a million participants from across the UK, including detailed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of their hearts as well as linkages to COVID-19 test results from Public Health England.
The team investigated records from 310 Biobank participants to see whether pre-existing features of the heart anatomy and function, as demonstrated on heart MRI scans, were linked to having a positive COVID-19 test result.