Researchers at the NIHR’s Biomedical Research Centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust & King’s College London have identified several cardiovascular risk factors, including smoking and high blood pressure, which may be associated with the accelerated decline of memory, learning, attention and reasoning in older adults. The study published in the journal Age and Ageing, found that participants over the age of 50 who smoked, had high blood pressure or were most at risk of suffering a stroke, performed more poorly on a range of cognitive tasks designed to test memory recall, verbal fluency, attention and other cognitive outcomes.