People with poor memory may face a higher risk of cardiovascular or heart-related diseases like heart attack or myocardial infarction, MI, revealed by researchers from the Edinburgh University.
Dr Beverly Shipley from Edinburgh University surveyed the mental agility of more than 6,400 people from across Britain over the past two decades.
Research, involving over 6,400 people aged between 18 and 99, found that differences in mental ability were a risk factor for certain vascular health conditions.
Dr Beverly Shipley found those with slower reaction times and a poorer memory had a higher risk of dying of cardiovascular or respiratory disease.
Dr Shipley and team will present the results of the study at a conference in Perth.
Researchers also found that lower than average mental agility led to at least a 10 percent greater chance of developing heart disease.
“One possible explanation from this study was that reaction time is an indicator of a body with better system integrity, or how well it is wired together. It’s not really clear why cognition and reaction time is related to mortality,” Dr Shipley, led researcher, informed.