Predicting memory performance in later life

Professor Cassandra Szoeke and co-authors have published an article discussing factors from mid-life that predict memory in later life.

The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry recently published a research article from the Healthy Ageing Program in the Department of Medicine (Royal Melbourne Hospital). In the paper, 'Predictive Factors for Verbal Memory Performance Over Decades of Aging: Data from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project', Professor Cassandra Szoeke and her co-authors described research conducted at the University of Melbourne that commenced in 1991, following women from mid-life.

The results indicated that cumulative factors from mid-life – physical activity, controlled blood pressure, and optimal levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol – were predictive of better verbal memory performance in later life. This suggests that interventions aimed at midlife can improve cognitive performance in later life.

The article was featured by a number of local, national and international media outlets, including the Australian Financial Review, Nine News Melbourne, Daily Mail Australia, and Medscape Medical News.

The article can be found here: www.ajgponline.org/article/S1064-7481(16)30113-0/abstract