Aug 27, 2014 01:17 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

The risk of stroke may be higher in people with cognitive impairment, according to a recent study.

Researchers found that people with cognitive impairment are significantly more likely to have a stroke with a 39 percent increased risk, than people with normal cognitive function.

"Given the projected substantial rise in the number of older people around the world, prevalence rates of cognitive impairment and stroke are expected to soar over the next several decades, especially in high-income countries," researcher Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele said in a statement.

Cognitive impairment and stroke are major contributors to disability, and stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Although stroke is linked to the development and worsening of cognitive impairment, it is not known whether the reverse is true. Previous studies that have looked at the link between cognitive impairment and subsequent stroke have been inconsistent in their findings.

For the study, researchers in the United States, Taiwan and South Korea, analyzed data from 18 studies of 121,879 people with cognitive impairment, of whom 7,799 later had strokes. Most of the included studies were conducted in North America or Europe.

"We found that the risk of future stroke was 39 percent higher among patients with cognitive impairment at baseline than among those with normal cognitive function at baseline," researchers said in the study. "This risk increased to 64 percent when a broadly adopted definition of cognitive impairment was used."

The blockage of blood vessels in the brain, inflammation and other vascular conditions are associated with a higher risk of stroke and cognitive impairment and may contribute to the increased risk, researchers said,

"Cognitive impairment should be more broadly recognized as a possible early clinical manifestation of cerebral infarction, so that timely management of vascular risk factors can be instituted to potentially prevent future stroke events and to avoid further deterioration of cognitive health," researchers concluded.

The findings were recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

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