McKnights Long-Term Care News | March 12, 2025

Promoting cardiovascular health in older adults could help alleviate the burden of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly among Black adults who experience a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease, a new study shows. The data also linked one Alzheimer’s disease-related biomarker with cardiovascular health, but not the other one studied.

Researchers wanted to understand the link between cardiovascular health and biomarkers that indicate a person is experiencing neurodegeneration. They looked at two neurodegeneration biomarkers in particular: neurofilament light chain (NfL) and total tau (t-tau). The study was published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.