Stroke Steals Eight Years’ Worth of Brain Function Overnight

According to new research conducted by the University of Michigan Health System, published in the journal Stroke, having a stroke ages a person’s brain function by almost eight years — robbing them of memory and thinking speed. During the study, in both black and white patients, having had a stroke meant that their score on a 27-item memory and thinking test had dropped as much as it would have if they aged 7.9 years overnight. Researchers fused two sources of information for their analysis — detailed surveys and tests of memory/thinking speed over multiple years (from participants in a large, national study of older Americans) and Medicare data from the same individuals. By measuring both black and white participants’ changes in cognitive test scores over time from 1998 to 2012, the researchers could see that participants did significantly worse on the test after their stroke than they had before. Other research on disparities in cognitive decline has focused on racial differences in socioeconomic status, education and vascular risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking — all of which are contributing factors. The researchers say the findings underscore the importance of stroke prevention and the importance of taking steps to control blood pressure, cholesterol, stopping smoking, controlling blood sugar and staying active in old age. To read more about this study, click here.