Participants with both higher hs-CRP (> 3.0 mg/L) and worse cognition were older, were less likely to take regular exercise, smoke, drink, and currently married (P for trend all< 0.05, Table 1), and more likely to suffer with diabetes, stroke and cerebrovascular disease (P for trend all< 0.05, Additional file 1: Table S1). The gene discussed is CRP; the disease is diabetes mellitus.