Brain function link to stroke risk

Over the time period studied, 166 of the men had a stroke or a TIA, with 105 of these having an ischaemic stroke. Ischaemic stroke is the most common type of stroke, which happens when the blood supply to your brain is cut off by a blood clot or lump of fat. The researchers found that after taking into account various other factors, such as education and social group, blood pressure, cholesterol and other heart problems, the men's performance in the TMT-B test was related to their risk of having an ischaemic stroke during the study period. Those men who took longer to complete the TMT-B test were more than three times more likely to have an ischaemic stroke during the study than those who did the test the fastest.

The other two tests - TMT-A and MMSE - were not found to be related to risk of having a stroke.

The researchers suggest that the test could be used to identify men who are most at risk from stroke and so would benefit from early treatment aimed at preventing stroke. They note even those people who had only a mild deterioration in brain function in their study and so may not be receiving treatment, were at greater risk for ischaemic stroke.

Commenting on the study, Bupa's assistant medical director, Dr Virginia Warren, said: "This was a high-quality piece of research because being population-based, it reflects the variety of everyday life. Research based in hospital clinics can only tell us about the lives of people already affected by illness. It was also impressive because they were able to follow up all of their participants. That said, it does only tell us about "young old" men and not about men in other age groups, or women of any age."