University of Arizona study could prevent dementia in stroke victims

PHOENIX — A University of Arizona study may have found a treatable cause of dementia in people who have had a stroke.

“Every year, about 800,000 Americans have a stroke and one-in-three will develop dementia in the first year afterwards,” researcher Kristian Doyle said.

The study found stroke-related inflammation in the brain persists for much longer than previously realized.

“In mice, if we give them a drug to treat that chronic inflammation, we can prevent them from getting dementia,” Doyle said.

Dementia causes memory loss and severe decline in mental ability.

“So the thing is there’s already drugs available that now could be applied to people who suffered a stroke,” he said.

The trick now is to find which drugs will work best to treat people.