My blood pressure didn't spike until age 60, now controlled, the rest I'm good at. But ask your competent? doctor if your stroke negates these factors! NO answer; PURE FUCKING INCOMPETENCE!
1. A documented 33% dementia chance post-stroke from an Australian study? May 2012.
2. Then this study came out and seems to have a range from 17-66%. December 2013.`
3. A 20% chance in this research. July 2013.
4. Dementia Risk Doubled in Patients Following Stroke September 2018
Midlife Vascular Health Adds Nearly 13 Dementia-Free Years
Summary: Maintaining healthy blood pressure, avoiding diabetes, and not smoking between ages 48 and 68 is associated with nearly 13 additional years of dementia-free life.
While the presence of all three vascular risk factors significantly accelerated dementia onset and reduced dementia-free survival across all groups, the researchers noted key demographic variations: women lived longer without dementia than men regardless of risk profile, and white participants experienced longer dementia-free lifespans than Black participants under similar risk conditions.
Key Facts
- 13-Year Healthspan Gain: Individuals free of hypertension, diabetes, and smoking from ages 48 to 68 lived an average of nearly 13 additional years without developing dementia compared to those with all three risk factors (30 years vs. 17 years post-baseline).
- Broad Cohort Scope: Analyzed 12,409 participants (average baseline age of 56) followed over a 26-year tracking period, during which 3,008 developed dementia and 5,238 died dementia-free.
- Sex-Based Differences: Women consistently maintained longer dementia-free survival than men across equivalent risk categories (18.1 years for women with all three risk factors vs. 16.6 years for men).
- Racial Disparities: White participants with all three risk factors lived an average of 19.6 dementia-free years compared to 16.0 years for Black participants, emphasizing the need for targeted midlife interventions in vulnerable populations.
- Critical Prevention Window: Emphasizes age 48 to 68 as a crucial developmental window where aggressive vascular risk modification directly safeguards cognitive reserve in later life.
Source: NYU
Having normal blood pressure, no diabetes, and not smoking from age 48 to 68, are associated with nearly 13 additional years on average of dementia-free life, a new study shows.
Led by NYU Langone Health researchers, the new work also found that, no matter how many risk factors they had, women lived longer without dementia than men, and that white study participants had more dementia-free years than Black participants.
Published online Aug. 5 in Neurology, the study results underscore the dual impact of the identified midlife risk factors, the presence of which was linked to both accelerated dementia onset and shortened overall dementia-free lifespans.
“Our findings argue that people need to actively avert these factors in midlife as a strategy for preserving brain health for more than a decade,” said study senior investigator Josef Coresh, MD, PhD, founding director, Optimal Aging Institute, NYU Langone.
“Discovering new ways to delay dementia is crucial with 42 percent of Americans at risk for developing the condition at any time after age 55.” Dr. Coresh is also the Terry and Mel Karmazin Professor, Department of Population Health, NYU Langone.
For the new study, the researchers analyzed data in the community-based Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, which started in 1986 and followed participants over decades into late life, measuring midlife vascular risk factors and dementia.
The current study looked at 12,409 people with an average age of 56 who were free of dementia. Participants were assessed for three risk factors: high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking. They were then followed for an average of 26 years. During that time, 3,008 developed dementia and 5,238 people died without developing dementia. Those who had no risk factors lived without developing dementia nearly 13 years longer than people with the three risk factors (30 years total after the study’s start versus 17 years).
The team also sought to determine how cardiovascular risk factors in midlife influenced dementia-free survival across demographics. Women with all three risk factors lived an average of 18.1 years from the start of tracking without developing dementia, compared to 16.6 years for male study participants. White participants with all three risk factors lived an average of 19.6 years without developing dementia, compared to 16 years for Black participants.
“These results suggest that vascular risk reduction may benefit all groups, but that certain populations, such as Black adults, may especially benefit from targeted prevention efforts,” Dr. Coresh added. “Hopefully, these results will encourage people to stop smoking and watch their vascular health closely from age 48 on.”
Importantly, the study was not designed to prove that avoiding these vascular risk factors caused the observed delay in dementia — only that they were associated with each other. Another limitation of the study was that the risk factor measurement was performed just once, so changes over time were not captured.
Funding: This study was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants K24HL152440 and K01DK138273, and the ARIC study was funded by grants NIH U01HL096812, U01HL096814, U01HL096899, U01HL096902 and U01HL096917.
Along with Dr. Coresh, study authors are Jiaqi Hu, Institute for Hospital Management, Tsinghua University in Beijing (lead author); Jason Smith, University of North Carolina School of Medicine; A. Richey Sharrett, Elizabeth Selvin and Michael Fang, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Rebecca F. Gottesman, Stroke Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Pamela Lutsey, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota; Thomas H. Mosley Jr., MIND Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine, Jackson; and Jordan Weiss, Department of Medicine (Division of Precision Medicine) and Optimal Aging Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Key Questions Answered:
A: Midlife hypertension, diabetes, and smoking cause cumulative structural damage to the brain’s microvasculature. Chronic hypoperfusion, small vessel disease, inflammation, and blood-brain barrier breakdown reduce cognitive resilience and accelerate pathological protein accumulation, laying the groundwork for clinical dementia late in life.
A: Even when carrying the same three vascular risk factors, Black participants experienced shorter dementia-free lifespans (16.0 years) than white participants (19.6 years). This highlights that systemic healthcare disparities, social determinants of health, and differences in baseline disease severity likely amplify the cognitive burden of vascular risk in Black communities.
A: The study demonstrated a strong prospective association rather than direct causation. Because risk factors were measured at baseline, the observational design does not capture how midlife treatment changes over time impact dementia trajectories, though the robust 26-year tracking strongly supports midlife risk reduction as a primary preventative strategy.
Editorial Notes:
- This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
- Journal paper reviewed in full.
- Additional context added by our staff.
About this dementia and aging research news
Author: David March
Source: NYU
Contact: David March – NYU
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: The findings will appear in Neurology
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