(WebMD) — Treating high blood pressure and other so-called vascular risk factors in people who have mild cognitive impairment may reduce their risk of progressing to Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study.
“Recent animal studies suggest that vascular risk factors play roles in the development of Alzheimer’s disease,” says researcher Yan-Jiang Wang, MD, PhD, a professor of neurology at Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China.
“But it still remains unclear whether vascular risk factors cause Alzheimer’s disease in humans,” he tells WebMD in an email. “Our study provides important evidence in humans which supports the idea that vascular risk factors play a critical role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.”
The researchers enrolled 837 men and women, all aged 55 and older.
All had a condition known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is a mental condition less severe than dementia, with symptoms such as forgetting recent events, difficulty multitasking, and taking longer to perform mental tasks. MCI increases the risk of progressing to Alzheimer’s disease.
At the start of the study, 414 had one or more vascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.
Loading ...
Loading ...