Vascular Dementia Rate Edges Alzheimer's Disease

By Chris Kaiser, Cardiology Editor, MedPage Today Published: July 21, 2011 Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Action Points   Note that this AHA/ASA statement reviews current understanding of vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia. Point out that clinicians are encouraged to use screening tools to detect cognitive impairment in their older patients and to continue to treat vascular risks according to nationally or regionally accepted guidelines for the management of hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia. The rate of dementia in those older than 65 in developed countries can be as high as 10%, and while the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease doubles every 4.3 years, the prevalence of vascular dementia doubles every 5.3 years, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Both Alzheimer's disease and vascular cognitive impairment share clinical and imaging features, and they may coexist, especially in later life, according to the statement published online July 21. Philip B. Gorelick, MD, MPH, and Angelo Scuteri, MD, PhD, who co-chaired the working group that produced the statement, said that the evidence increasingly points to an alteration in neurovascular function as key to the pathobiology of Alzheimer's disease as well as vascular cognitive