Public release date: 25-Aug-2005 [ | Contact: Kristen Perfetuo 617-638-8491 New research suggests heart bypass surgery increases risk of Alzheimer's disease Researchers say stress and trauma of surgery may be to blame Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers have discovered that patients who have either coronary artery bypass graft surgery or coronary angioplasty are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The research, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease ( ), pinpoints stress and trauma of the surgery as the major cause for the increased risk. Led by Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD, professor of pharmacology at BUSM, researchers compared 5,216 people who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) and 3,954 people who had a percutaneous transluminal coronary angiop

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