Dutch researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam have determined that cognitive decline may signal an increased risk of stroke in the next 10 years. This is the result of an analysis published by the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
Dutch research has been conducted on a group of 14 thousand 712 people. Information on their health was collected in the years 1990-2018.
Data on the cognitive functions and daily functioning of 1662 participants who had a stroke were compared with the information on those without a stroke (from the 10 years before the stroke). Each patient was compared to three without stroke of the same sex and age.
Researchers have noticed that people with stroke have symptoms cognitive deterioration and problems in everyday functioning appeared already within 10 years before the episode occurred.
A number of tests performed included cognitive functions (incl. concentration, language functions, learning and remembering), reaction time, coordination and mobility, and the presence of difficulties in carrying out daily activities.
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“The results of these studies show that in people who are about to develop a stroke, the first signals begin to appear about 10 years earlier. People with cognitive and functional impairments may therefore be at greater risk. The progressive deterioration of cognitive functions and the emergence of problems in daily functioning suggest that damage caused by factors such as small cerebral vessel disease, neurodegeneration or inflammation may accumulate in the brain years before the onset of an episode, “the authors write.
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