z-logo
Premium
Atherosclerosis and risk for dementia
Author(s) -
van Oijen Marieke,
Jan de Jong Frank,
Witteman Jacqueline C. M.,
Hofman Albert,
Koudstaal Peter J.,
Breteler Monique M. B.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.21073
Subject(s) - dementia , medicine , rotterdam study , hazard ratio , cohort , proportional hazards model , prospective cohort study , vascular dementia , population , cohort study , stroke (engine) , apolipoprotein e , disease , cardiology , confidence interval , mechanical engineering , environmental health , engineering
Objective Atherosclerosis has been implicated in the development of dementia and its major subtypes, Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. However, support for this association mainly comes from cross‐sectional studies. We investigated the association of atherosclerosis with dementia and subtypes of dementia during long follow‐up, with various noninvasive measures of atherosclerosis. Methods This study was based on 6,647 participants in the Rotterdam Study, a population‐based prospective cohort study among 7,983 elderly subjects. At baseline (1990–1993) and at the third survey (1997–1999), common carotid intima media thickness, carotid plaques, and peripheral arterial disease (measured as ankle–brachial index) were measured. During follow‐up (mean, 9.0 years), 678 subjects developed dementia. We estimated the associations of different measures of atherosclerosis with risk for dementia and subtypes of dementia by means of Cox proportional hazard models. Analyses were repeated and stratified on duration of follow‐up. To evaluate competing risk for mortality, we examined the association between measures of atherosclerosis and risk for dementia or mortality by combining the two in a single outcome measure. Results We found that atherosclerosis, predominantly carotid atherosclerosis, was associated with an increased risk for dementia during short follow‐up. This association attenuated with longer follow‐up, likely because of the strong association between atherosclerosis and mortality. The associations did not differ across apolipoprotein E genotypes. Interpretation Our findings suggest that atherosclerosis is associated with an increased risk for dementia. Stronger associations between atherosclerosis and mortality may attenuate the association between atherosclerosis and dementia in prospective cohort studies with long follow‐up periods. Ann Neurol 2007

This content is not available in your region!

Continue researching here.

Having issues? You can contact us here