MONDAY, March 16, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- A considerable proportion of adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia develop new cardiovascular indications for anticoagulant and thrombolytic drugs, according to a study recently published in Neurology.
Anna L. Parks, M.D., from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and colleagues estimated how many people with MCI or dementia develop a new cardiovascular indication for anticoagulant and thrombolytic drugs in a longitudinal cohort of 12,373 adults aged 65 years and older from the Health and Retirement Study.
The researchers found that the one-year risk for atrial fibrillation, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and any indication was 1.7, 1.2, 0.4, 1.2, 2.0, and 5.7 percent, respectively, for participants with MCI. For those with dementia, the corresponding one-year risks were 1.7, 1.8, 0.3, 1.0, 2.4, and 6.7 percent, respectively.
"Our results provide national, real-world estimates of how often people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia develop conditions requiring anticoagulant or thrombolytic therapy," coauthor Dae Hyun Kim, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D., from the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research in Boston, said in a statement. "This information can help clinicians and families better understand the potential trade-offs when considering anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody therapy, especially given the bleeding risk associated with these treatments."
Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.