New research has a stark warning for adults over 60. Getting a low score on an overall test of thinking ability, memory and how quickly information is processed could be a signaller for strokes later in life.
This is according to a study conducted in Sweden, now published in the journal of the American Heart Association. This study examined the risk of strokes in nearly 5000 older adults, aged between 60 and 80.
This data was connected to scores of cognitive function. Participants in the study, all of whom had no history of dementia, stroke or mini-strokes, completed several tests that measured overall thinking ability, memory and processing speed.
Tracking these individuals over a roughly 12 year period, more than 10% of participants had a first-time stroke. Using this information, researchers estimated the risk of stroke for those with the lowest cognitive function scores compared to those with the highest.
The study identified among adults aged 60 to 69 that the lower overall thinking ability was linked to an 86% higher risk of stroke, lower memory scores were linked to a 68% higher stroke risk, and lower information processing speed was linked to a 66% increase in stroke risk.
“We chose to investigate different age spans because the older population is very diverse. For instance, while many people in their 60s may have only a few medical conditions, people in their 80s often suffer from multiple medical conditions and take numerous medications,” said lead study author Alice Askemyr, a geriatrics researcher at Lund University and Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden.
“Furthermore, what serves as a risk factor in early life might not serve as one if it is acquired later in life and vice versa.“
Poor cognitive performance among the younger study participants could also indicate that they may have an undetected brain injury that effected results.
“So-called ‘silent’ brain injuries can affect both cognitive functioning and the future risk of stroke,” Askemyr said.
“They affect roughly 70% of adults over age 70, so their effects may be easier to detect among people in their 60s, when such injuries and other factors that can affect cognition, including medical conditions and medications, are less common.”
These findings are of course concerning, and worth considering for long term health. However, they are by no means the full picture.
“while it is certainly important for people in their 60s, my advice would be that even people in their 40s and 50s need to be focusing on risk factor modification and habits for good overall brain health,” says Elisabeth Marsh, chair of the 2026 American Heart Association Scientific Statement, who had no involvement with the study.
“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. This would improve both cognitive performance and stroke risk in older age.”
