Lower Cognitive Functioning During 60s Linked to Subsequent Stroke Risk

FRIDAY, Oct. 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- For adults aged 60 to 69 years, lower cognitive functioning in global cognition, episodic memory, and perceptual speed is associated with increased stroke risk, according to a study published online Sept. 30 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.Alice Askemyr, M.D., from Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden, and colleagues examined the risk for first-time stroke among older adults with lower cognitive function in different cognitive domains in a longitudinal cohort study. A total of 4,912 participants were classified into tertiles based on performance on cognitive tests representing multiple cognitive domains.The analyses included 3,094 participants aged 60 to 69 years, 494 aged 70 to 79 years, and 1,184 aged 80 years and older. The researchers found that 572 of 4,912 participants had a stroke during the average follow-up of 12.3 years. Participants in the low tertile of perceptual speed had a significantly higher risk for stroke in the fully adjusted models (hazard ratio, 1.40). In an age-stratified analysis, the risk for stroke was higher for participants aged 60 to 69 years in the low tertiles of global cognition, episodic memory, and perceptual speed (hazard ratios, 1.86, 1.68, and 1.66, respectively)."This study, in conjunction with others, supports how important it is to be aggressive in managing vascular risk factors and focusing on brain health in midlife, before many people typically begin to think about it," Elisabeth Breese Marsh, M.D., chair of the 2026 American Heart Association Scientific Statement, Brain Health Across the Life Span: A Framework for Future Studies, who was not involved in the study, said in a statement. "This would improve both cognitive performance and stroke risk in older age."Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Lower Cognitive Functioning During 60s Linked to Subsequent Stroke Risk

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