Cerebrovascular disease linked to Alzheimer's

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/rumc-cdl070116.php

Public Release: 1-Jul-2016
Cerebrovascular disease linked to Alzheimer's
Study finds association between diseases in brain blood vessels and dementia
Rush University Medical Center

While strokes are known to increase risk for dementia, much less is known about diseases of large and small blood vessels in the brain, separate from stroke, and how they relate to dementia. Diseased blood vessels in the brain itself, which commonly is found in elderly people, may contribute more significantly to Alzheimer's disease dementia than was previously believed, according to new study results published in June in The Lancet Neurology, a British medical journal.

"Cerebral vessel pathology might be an under-recognized risk factor for Alzheimer's disease dementia," the researchers wrote.

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The study found that the worse the brain vessel diseases, the higher the chance of having dementia, which is usually attributed to Alzheimer's disease. The increase was 20 to 30 percent for each level of worsening severity. The study also found that atherosclerosis and arteriolosclerosis are associated with lower levels of thinking abilities, including in memory and other thinking skills, and these associations were present in persons with and without dementia.

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