Stroke Survivors Face Much Higher Odds for Dementia
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Dec. 6, 2024 -- Stroke survivors have an 80% increased risk of dementia compared to people who’ve never suffered a stroke, a new study finds.
About 19% of people who’d had a stroke developed dementia during an average six-year follow-up, compared with just 13% of those with no stroke, researchers reported Dec. 4 in the journal Neurology.
“Importantly, our research also found that the risk of dementia after stroke was double the risk of having a second stroke,” said researcher Dr. Raed Joundi, an assistant professor of medicine with McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.
“While much research has been focused on reducing the risk of a second stroke, our findings make it clear that that more research also is needed on developing interventions to help prevent dementia after stroke,” Joundi added in a journal news release.
For the study, researchers looked at strokes caused by either a blockage of blood flow to the brain or by bleeding in the brain.
The team identified nearly 175,000 stroke survivors living in Ontario, and matched them to the same number of people who hadn’t had a stroke. The average age of study participants was 69.
They found there were about 3.3 cases of dementia per 100 person-years for stroke survivors, compared with 1.9 cases among people without stroke. Person-years represent the number of people in the study and the amount of time each person was tracked.
People with stroke had a 76% increased risk of dementia after taking into account other risk factors like age, gender, high blood pressure and diabetes, results show.
The risk also changed over time, and was highest immediately following a stroke, researchers found.
Stroke survivors had a 2.5 times increased risk of dementia within a year of their stroke, a 50% increased risk at five years and a 30% increased risk after 20 years, result showed.
“As the rates of dementia are rising globally, and more people are surviving stroke, understanding the how stroke contributes to dementia risk is of great importance,” Joundi said.
Sources
- American Academy of Neurology., news release, Dec. 4, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted December 2024
Read this next
Blood Test Might Predict Rapid Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
MONDAY, June 23, 2025 — A common blood test can flag early Alzheimer’s disease patients who are four times more likely to experience rapid brain decline, a new study...
Well-being Might Be Important To Memory
FRIDAY, June 20, 2025 — Caring for your emotional health might also help keep your memory sharp, a new study says. People with higher levels of well-being have a reduced...
Talk Therapy Eases Depression, Anxiety In Stroke Survivors
WEDNESDAY, June 18, 2025 — Talk therapy can help stroke survivors who are in the throes of depression or anxiety, a new study says. About half of patients (49%) fully...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.