Image: ©iStock/Rasi Bhadramani

(05/07/2025) VA researchers from Madison, Wisconsin, and their colleagues discovered age-related stiffness of arteries is a critical component of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. As part of a larger study of atherosclerosis, the researchers tracked the arterial stiffness and cognitive function of nearly 2,600 Veterans for more than 20 years. They found increasing arterial stiffness corresponded to greater cognitive decline as participants aged. Both age-related arterial stiffness and stiffness caused by high blood pressure were linked to structural abnormalities in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The findings suggest new treatments to reduce arterial stiffness could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. (Journal of the American Heart Association, May 2, 2025)