Vascular Dementia and the burden of Vascular Risk Factors in Alzheimer’s disease

Takashi Yamazaki and Ken Nagata

Department of Neurology, Research Institute for Brain and Blood Vessels

Vascular disease used to be considered as the principal cause of aging-related dementia in our country. More recently, however, research emphasis has shifted to studies of neurodegenerative disease. It is now widely accepted that vascular dementia (VaD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) share the common risk factors. The term AD with cerebrovascular disease (CVD) is reserved to clinical patterns fulfilling the clinical criteria of possible AD with clinical and imaging sign of relevant CVD. Although the clinical diagnosis for VaD is not simple due to the lack of consensus regarding the neuropathological scheme for quantifying cerebrovascular lesions in relation to cognitive disturbance and clinical definitions of VaD. Recent neuropathological studies claim a coexistence of AD pathology and cerebrovascular lesions including athrosclerosis, small vessel lesions, and occulusive vascular, lesions. The results of retrospective clinicopathological studies revealed that cerebrovascular pathology was most frequent among the concomitant neuropathological features in AD patients. The treatments for vascular risk factors represent an important avenue of approach to help slow or prevent the onset and progression of AD.

Address correspondence to Dr. Takashi Yamazaki, Department of Neurology, Research Institute for Brain and Blood Vessels (6-10 Senshu-Kubota-Machi, Akita 010-0874 Japan)