Absentmindedness may signal ‘silent stroke’ risk
Toronto:07.02.2019 TOI
People who frequently lose their train of thought or often become sidetracked may be displaying earlier symptoms of cerebral small vessel disease, also known as a “silent stroke”, a study warns.
The study, published in ‘Neurobiology of Aging’, found that adults with damage to the brain’s white matter, caused by silent strokes, reported poor attentiveness and being distracted more frequently on day-to-day tasks.
Despite these complaints, about half of the people with identified white matter damage scored within the normal range on formal laboratory assessments of attention and executive function.
“Our results indicate that in many cases of people who were at a higher risk of silent stroke and had one, they saw a notable difference in their ability to stay focused, even before symptoms became detectable through a neuropsychological test,” said Ayan Dey from the University of Toronto.
Cerebral small vessel disease is one of the most common neurological disorders of aging. This type of stroke are connected to the development of vascular dementia and a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
The strokes are “silent” since they do not cause lasting major changes seen with an overt stroke, such as affecting a person’s ability to speak or paralysis. Despite a lack of obvious symptoms, cerebral small vessel disease causes damage to the brain’s white matter (responsible for communication among regions), which can cause memory and cognitive issues over time.
“There are no effective treatments for Alzheimer’s, but brain vascular changes can be prevented through smoking cessation, exercise, diet and stress management, and keeping one’s blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol under control,” said an expert. PTI
Toronto:07.02.2019 TOI
People who frequently lose their train of thought or often become sidetracked may be displaying earlier symptoms of cerebral small vessel disease, also known as a “silent stroke”, a study warns.
The study, published in ‘Neurobiology of Aging’, found that adults with damage to the brain’s white matter, caused by silent strokes, reported poor attentiveness and being distracted more frequently on day-to-day tasks.
Despite these complaints, about half of the people with identified white matter damage scored within the normal range on formal laboratory assessments of attention and executive function.
“Our results indicate that in many cases of people who were at a higher risk of silent stroke and had one, they saw a notable difference in their ability to stay focused, even before symptoms became detectable through a neuropsychological test,” said Ayan Dey from the University of Toronto.
Cerebral small vessel disease is one of the most common neurological disorders of aging. This type of stroke are connected to the development of vascular dementia and a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
The strokes are “silent” since they do not cause lasting major changes seen with an overt stroke, such as affecting a person’s ability to speak or paralysis. Despite a lack of obvious symptoms, cerebral small vessel disease causes damage to the brain’s white matter (responsible for communication among regions), which can cause memory and cognitive issues over time.
“There are no effective treatments for Alzheimer’s, but brain vascular changes can be prevented through smoking cessation, exercise, diet and stress management, and keeping one’s blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol under control,” said an expert. PTI
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