Dr. Julie Schneider presents her study results August 25, 2015.
Vascular health could play a major role in diagnosing and preventing dementia, according to a study presented recently at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Julie Schneider, Professor of Pathology and Neurological Sciences and Associate Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Rush University in Chicago, declared that the scientific community needs to reevaluate its approach when it comes to studying neurodegenerative diseases.
“We have to think more broadly about dementia and aging,” she said during her August 25 presentation. “We need to start thinking about other targets.”
Presenting results from two studies, Dr. Schneider showed that mixed pathologies are common in patients with clinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and that the presence of multiple pathologies leads to an earlier and steeper decline in cognitive function. More than half of her studies’ participants showed three or more pathologies. This included vascular pathology such as infarcts — brain changes associated with “stroke” — and diseases associated with degeneration of the brain such as Lewy bodies, which are seen in Parkinson’s disease-related dementias.
One of those pathologies presented, microinfarcts — very tiny “strokes” seen only under a microscope — can now be detected through brain imaging, but the amount seen both by imaging or pathology is probably not an accurate indication of total damage. Studies suggest that finding several microinfarcts under the microscope means that there are probably thousands in the brain. Dr. Schneider quoted another researcher, saying “finding one cockroach in your kitchen means there are hundreds in your wall.”
Study participants with no vascular disease still had an increased probability of dementia as AD pathology increased, but it was consistently lower than that of their peers with vascular disease.
Currently, there are no good treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions. These data regarding vascular disease in the brain provide evidence that it is important for persons to maintain good vascular health to help delay and slow cognitive impairment in aging. These and other studies suggest that physical activity, good nutrition, and control of vascular risk factors including diabetes and high blood pressure are a few important things that can be helpful.