Highlights
- New computer program developed helps predict the risk of developing dementia after stroke
- Brain health index can assess whole brain deterioration and detect cognitive decline 10 times more accurately
- The index helps diagnose and treat dementia and other cognitive problems early
Cognitive Problems after Stroke
SVD features and brain tissue atrophy are major risk factors for stroke and dementia. Both these factors increase with age and are often present together. Even before symptoms can be identified, the brain health index gives early warning of the risk of future cognitive decline in individuals.
Currently, only limited treatments are available to prevent or delay cognitive decline or dementia due to vascular disease. However, if the risk factors are identified early, the development of these diseases can be slowed down by making changes in lifestyle and risk factors like blood pressure can be treated as well.
At present, doctors can identify when a stroke has occurred with the help of brain scans, which can also provide information if a stroke survivor is at risk of developing cognitive problems or dementia.
Dr. David Alexander Dickie, from the University of Glasgow’s Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, said: “We recognized a need for a more inclusive approach to assessing common brain disorders of aging. Our new method allows us to use every piece of information from a brain scan, rather than individual features of the brain that can only tell us so much about a person’s risk for cognitive problems.”
In this study, about 288 participants have been recruited who was from Edinburgh. Participants who had a stroke and lupus patients and healthy working-age volunteers.
Cognitive deficits seen in stroke and SVD can be easily predicted with the brain health index than the validated clinical scoring methods and other computer programs that are used currently for assessing features of brain deterioration.
Dr Dickie added: “Through a unique collaboration between the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, which is funded by the Stroke Association in the UK, the next step is to test the brain health index approach in newly-developed brain scanners, such as the ultra-high resolution 7 Tesla scanner at the University of Glasgow’s Imaging Centre of Excellence, and in larger groups of patients.”
The research team hopes to introduce brain health index into clinical practices to help identify and treat cognitive decline and dementia after stroke early.
The paper, ‘The brain health index: Towards a combined measure of neurovascular and neurodegenerative structural brain injury’ was published in the International Journal of Stroke.
Tips to Improve Brain Health
Source-Medindia