New and Noteworthy Information—July 2013

Stroke symptoms or transient ischemic attack (TIA) may be strongly associated with incident cognitive impairment, researchers concluded in a study published online ahead of print June 19 in Neurology. The investigators studied 23,830 participants without cognitive impairment or history of stroke enrolled in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study. Subjects reported stroke symptoms and TIA every six months and were screened annually for cognitive impairment. Among Caucasians, the odds ratio for incident cognitive impairment was 2.08 for subjects reporting at least one stroke symptom or TIA, compared with those reporting no stroke symptom or TIA. Among African Americans, the odds ratio was 1.66 using the same modeling. The magnitude of impact was largest among participants with fewer traditional stroke risk factors.

—Erik Greb
Senior Associate Editor