Stroke and memory: Connected?

An interesting article about the possible connection of stroke risk and predicting memory problems. Some details about the research on how stroke risk profile may also predict odds of memory problems: 

"Overall, it appears that the total Stroke Risk Profile score, while initially created to predict stroke, is also useful in determining the risk of cognitive problems," study researcher Frederick Unverzagt, PhD, says in a news release. He is a professor of psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.

 After taking into account complicating factors, getting older and having thickened heart muscle were both independently linked with future memory problems. High systolic blood pressure (the first number in a reading) also appeared to raise a person's odds of memory decline, even in the absence of heart muscle thickening.

“Our findings suggest that elevated blood pressure and thickening of the heart muscle may provide a simple way for doctors to identify people at risk for memory and thinking problems,” Unverzagt said.

 You can't change every potential stroke risk factor, but some - blood pressure, as cited above, for example - can be addressed through exercise, diet or medication. Now, it seems, you might be able to steer away from memory problems, too.

(Photo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)