A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that “silent” strokes and other undiagnosed brain abnormalities are more common among older adults. Out of 2, 000 participants, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that 7 percent of them showed signs of previous unnoticed strokes. In addition, 1.6 percent had brain tumors and 2 percent had aneurysms—yet only two people reported symptoms. Earlier studies conducted by the same Netherlands team found that evidence of “silent” strokes more than doubled a person’s risk for a major stroke or dementia.
