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Scientists: Significant Amount of Demential Due to Small Vessel Disease in Brain
| Author: Tony Cappasso |
| Article Date: 4/18/2008 |
Have scientists been mistaken in attributing most risk of dementia to the effects of Alzheimer’s disease? Some researchers think the answer may be “yes.” According to their research, a “significant” risk of dementia should be attributed to damage in small blood vessels.
Autopsies of 221 men and women who had shown signs of dementia before death revealed that the brains of one-third of them showed small blood vessel damage from the cumulative effects of hypertension and diabetes.
Dr. Thomas Montine and colleagues analyzed the brain tissue of select volunteers from the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study, wherein 3,400 adult participants (65+) in the Seattle region agreed to undergo neurological and psychological tests every two years until their death
While some results were unsurprising, such as showing that changes due to Alzheimer’s disease or the formation of Lewy bodies (structures indicative of a degenerative disease known as Lewy Body Dementia) accounted for significant dementia risk, the researchers also found that about 33 percent of dementia risk was associated with brain damage from small vessel disease. This small vessel damage is the cumulative effect of multiple tiny strokes caused by hypertension and diabetes, strokes so small that the person experiences no sensation or problems until they reach a tipping point.
While unexpected, this finding may be good news, because while Alzheimer’s treatments remain investigational, there are many options to reduce hypertension and diabetes.
Source: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Autopsies of 221 men and women who had shown signs of dementia before death revealed that the brains of one-third of them showed small blood vessel damage from the cumulative effects of hypertension and diabetes.
Dr. Thomas Montine and colleagues analyzed the brain tissue of select volunteers from the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study, wherein 3,400 adult participants (65+) in the Seattle region agreed to undergo neurological and psychological tests every two years until their death
While some results were unsurprising, such as showing that changes due to Alzheimer’s disease or the formation of Lewy bodies (structures indicative of a degenerative disease known as Lewy Body Dementia) accounted for significant dementia risk, the researchers also found that about 33 percent of dementia risk was associated with brain damage from small vessel disease. This small vessel damage is the cumulative effect of multiple tiny strokes caused by hypertension and diabetes, strokes so small that the person experiences no sensation or problems until they reach a tipping point.
While unexpected, this finding may be good news, because while Alzheimer’s treatments remain investigational, there are many options to reduce hypertension and diabetes.
Source: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology