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Preventing Second Stroke May Stave Off Dementia

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- The way to reduce the chances of developing dementia such as Alzheimer's disease after a stroke is to prevent a second stroke by concentrating on all the known stroke risk factors, a new British study suggests.

Two major findings emerged from an analysis of 30 previous studies that involved more than 7,500 people who had suffered a stroke, said Dr. Sarah Pendlebury, a senior clinical fellow at the Stroke Prevention Research Unit of John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and lead author of a report published online Sept. 23 in The Lancet Neurology.

"First, there is a clear relationship between having multiple strokes and the risk of dementia," Pendlebury said. "If someone has multiple strokes at the same time, that person has a strong risk of becoming demented in the first month."

"Second, the data suggest that the presence of complications after stroke -- such as hypertension [high blood pressure], low oxygen saturation, cardiac events and seizures -- also increases the risk of developing dementia."

Because of this, Pendlebury said, the focus of stroke treatment units should be on all the risk factors for stroke.

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