The relationship between dyspnea and cognitive dysfunction under a geriatrician’s magnifying glass

¹V.I. Razumovskiy Saratov State Medical University, Saratov

²Samara State Medical University, Samara

Dyspnea is a common complaint in geriatric patients. Owing to a direct impact on physical, mental and social status, the symptom is of global importance as a predictor of a decrease in life quality and expectancy in older people. In recent years, large focus on studies of general pathophysiological mechanisms of dyspnea and cognitive dysfunction opens the potential for development of fundamentally new therapeutic approaches to manage these clinical manifestations.

Aim: to analyze and to systematize relevant literature data on evaluation of mechanisms of cognitive dysfunction associated with the most common geriatric conditions (i. e., chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and a significant geriatric syndrome (i. e., sarcopenia), which have close pathogenetic relationships and are united by a common symptom (i. e., dyspnea). Due to accumulated data on a direct dyspnea effects on cognitive functions, a review of the most relevant data covering the issue aspect is also provided.

Several queries (keywords: "dyspnea", "cognitive dysfunction", "sarcopenia", "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease", and "chronic heart failure") were used in the PubMed/MedLine, Sciencedirect, elibrary, and Cyberleninka search engines. More than 200 topically relevant references have been processed, and the most significant data in the light of the issue discussed are reported in the paper.

The literature review is focused on cognitive dysfunction and dyspnea which are one of the most significant geriatric issues. Due to magnetic resonance imaging visualizing pathomorphological brain changes, specific signs of degenerative changes corresponding to a decrease in mental status were identified and described in detail. Cognitive impairment associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic heart failure has been described in some detail. Actually, the relationship between sarcopenia and cognitive dysfunction which is discernible as in the case of the "slowing" phenomenon, is being studied; in recent years, available results of a number of studies confirm this fact. The papers demonstrate the best evidence of a direct pathogenetic relationship between dyspnea and cognitive dysfunction, and this offers the challenge to develop new therapeutic approaches to manage both abnormalities. Further comprehensive study of issues related to cognitive dysfunction and dyspnea is of great importance for geriatricians and physicians of related specialties as it corresponds to the WHO tasks and increases the chances of many older people at healthy aging.

Keywords: cognitive dysfunction, dyspnea, sarcopenia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic heart failure.

For citation: Sergeeva V.A., Bulgakova S.V. The relationship between dyspnea and cognitive dysfunction under a geriatrician’s magnifying glass. RMJ. 2024;9:28–33. DOI: 10.32364/2225-2282-2024-9-5