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The incidence of cognitive impairment and cardiovascular disease both increase with age. These Dutch investigators conducted a community-wide survey of nearly 5000 people aged 55 to 94 to study the distribution of cognitive impairment among the elderly and examine its relation to cardiovascular disease.
Eighty percent of eligible residents took part in the study and 90 percent took a mini mental-state exam. The presence of atherosclerosis was determined by questionnaire and ultrasound of the carotid and peripheral arteries. The mean mental score (maximum, 30) fell with increasing age: from 28.1 in people 55 to 64 years old to 23.1 in those aged 85 to 94. Lower educational level was associated with lower mental scores, and atherosclerosis was…