Cognitive decline evident by middle age
BMJ 2011:343:d7622
Adverse cognitive outcomes, such as dementia, are thought to be the result of long-term deterioration that occurs over 20-30 years. New evidence shows that cognitive decline can be detected in people as young as 45-49 years.
Ten-year cognitive decline was assessed from longitudinal data in 7,390 participants aged 45-70 years at enrolment. Cognitive testing was done on three occasions throughout the 10-year period, using a cognitive test battery that comprised measurements of memory, reasoning, vocabulary and phonemic and semantic fluency. A decline in average performance was seen in all cognitive domains except vocabulary in all age categories (45-49 years, 50-54 years, 55-59 years, 55-59 years, 60-64 years and 65-70 years).
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