Determinants of vascular dementia in the Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study

Abstract

Vascular disease in the brain is prevalent among incident dementia cases. There is a substantial overlap between cases classified as Alzheimer disease by Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association and vascular dementia (VaD) by modified State of California Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostic and Treatment Centers criteria. The substantial contribution of vascular disease would be missed without inclusion of MRI. Treatment of risk factors for VaD could have an important impact on incidence of dementia.