Cognitive impairment is too often one of the unwanted long-term side effects of advanced heart disease, affecting about 68 percent of people with heart failure. After bypass surgery, about half of patients also experience cognitive impairment.
Research shows that what is good for the heart also is good for the brain. This includes lifestyle choices, such as a mostly plant-based Mediterranean Diet, exercise and life-long learning. Research also cites well-controlled blood pressure as a way to protect the brain. But there is so much more we don’t understand.
Research is under way to obtain a greater understanding of the role of impaired heart function and associated inflammation in cognitive function and how doctors can manage an individual’s heart condition and protect the brain.
As part of the Sarver Heart Center’s 30th Anniversary Commemoration 2016-2017, the community is invited to learn more through an upcoming lecture with Lee Ryan, PhD, professor and department chair, UA College of Science Psychology Department, and Nancy K. Sweitzer, MD, PhD, professor and chief of cardiology, and director of the UA Sarver Heart Center. The topic is, “Thinking from the Heart: How to Protect the 
Brain in Patients with Heart Disease,” Wednesday, Dec. 14, 6 – 7:15 p.m., in Room 5403, UA College of Medicine – Tucson. Enter via Banner - University Medical Center Tucson, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. To register online, please visit heart.arizona.edu or click on “Attend Events.” If you are unable to register online, please email heart@u.arizona.edu or call 520-626-2901. Free event parking is available in the Banner – University Medical Center Visitor Parking Garage or the University of Arizona Zone 1 lots (after 5 p.m.).
About the UA Sarver Heart Center
The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center’s 145 members include faculty from cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, pediatric cardiology, neurology, vascular surgery, radiology, endocrinology, emergency medicine, nursing, pharmacy and basic sciences. The UA Sarver Heart Center emphasizes a highly collaborative research environment, bridging “bench and bedside” research that advances life-saving innovations and patient care. If you would like to give permission for Sarver Heart Center to contact you about heart research studies, please complete a Cardiology Research Registry Information Form.
About the University of Arizona Health Sciences
The University of Arizona Health Sciences is the statewide leader in biomedical research and health professions training. The UA Health Sciences includes the UA Colleges of Medicine (Phoenix and Tucson), Nursing, Pharmacy and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, with main campus locations in Tucson and the growing Phoenix Biomedical Campus in downtown Phoenix. From these vantage points, the UA Health Sciences reaches across the state of Arizona and the greater Southwest to provide cutting-edge health education, research, patient care and community outreach services. A major economic engine, the UA Health Sciences employs almost 5,000 people, has nearly 1,000 faculty members and garners more than $126 million in research grants and contracts annually. For more information: http://uahs.arizona.edu (Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn)