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A study by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio found that cerebral small vessel disease, the most common type of disease detected on brain magnetic resonance imaging, is a major vascular factor associated with dementia risk.
Publika.az reports that the results of a large international study highlight the importance of this feature, known as white matter hyperintensity, in dementia prevention strategies.
The study notes that with increasing life expectancy, dementia is estimated to affect 75 million people worldwide by 2030. This, in turn, makes the development of strategies to prevent or delay the onset of disease a top public health priority.
Small vessel disease of the brain is a leading cause of cognitive decline and dementia, the study says. About half of dementia cases exhibit neuropathological features of both Alzheimer’s disease and cerebral small vessel disease.
Although observational studies have shown an association between increased white matter volume and increased risk of stroke and dementia, causal evidence is limited. White matter hyperintensities are brain lesions that appear as areas of increased brightness on magnetic resonance imaging.
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The study also highlights the importance of combining multiple complementary epidemiological approaches and data types, as well as overcoming the limitations of instrumental variable analysis, when studying the impact of vascular characteristics on late-onset diseases such as dementia.
Jamila