Stroke risk and cognitive decline linked?
Wednesday 13th April 2011
An association has been found between cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive decline in a recent study.
The research found that individuals at a higher risk of stroke were more at risk of decline of some "executive function" aspects of cognition, particularly affecting verbal fluency and the ability to ignore irrelevant information.
However, cardiovascular risk factors were not seen to have an effect on verbal memory and short-term or working memory, according to the research reported at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.
Jonathan Gooblar, lead author, said: "The findings reveal that if you control for age, education and gender, participants with higher risk for stroke perform significantly more poorly in verbal fluency and in inhibition, even when controlling for a history of stroke and dementia."
Cognitive decline may also be caused by pollution, according to findings in a study on mice.
In the study, published in journal Environmental Health Perspectives, short-term exposure to freeway particles was found to affect memory and learning in the animals.
Written by Mathew Horton
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