Professors and geniuses are often portrayed absent-minded in movies and literature, but forgetfulness in people with high levels of education may point to a dangerous deterioration of health. Dutch researchers have found that memory loss in this category of people is sometimes a symptom of the future stroke.
If you frequently forget where you have put the keys or the name of your colleague, you should visit a neurologist to check the performance of the brain. Scientists from Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands have found that such forgetfulness can be a sign of the coming stroke.
According to co-author of the study, Dr. Arfan Ikram, numerous studies have shown that stroke causes problems with memory. Taking into account the underlying vascular pathology, we decided to ask another question in the process of our study: are complaints of poor memory regarded as an upcoming testimony of stroke?
Stroke is known to cause blockage of blood vessels in the brain due to blood clots (ischemic stroke) or hemorrhage in the brain (hemorrhagic stroke). It does not let the blood vessels deliver oxygen and nutrients to the brain, causing severe damage to the body and death of brain cells.
For their study, the Dutch researchers had been observing 9,152 people aged 50 years and older from 1990 to 2012. During this period, 1,134 strokes were reported among them, including 663 ischemic, 99 hemorrhagic, and 372 non-specific strokes. The scientists have discovered a link between persistent memory impairment in people with high education levels and the risk of stroke.
According to the authors, well-educated people more often detect changes in the creative activity of their brain than less educated ones, so they are more likely to complain about the problems with memory that point to cerebrovascular insufficiency.
