- 1,203studies in the library match, of 29,780
- 414name it in the title
- 1975–2026years published
- 1,171peer-reviewed articles
The query: title or abstract mentions "vascular dementia", "vascular cognitive impairment", "VaD", "VCI", "multi-infarct dementia", "subcortical ischaemic", "small vessel disease" or "mixed dementia", matched case-insensitively against each record's title and abstract (its summary field) in alzhub's library of 29,780 study records, as of 2026-11-09. Every count on this page comes from that match. The matched list as JSON.
Vascular dementia follows strokes, many small strokes, or long-standing narrowing of the brain's small blood vessels. The pattern of symptoms depends on where the damage is: slowed thinking, trouble planning and changes in walking are common early, with memory sometimes affected less than in Alzheimer's. Vascular cognitive impairment is the wider term for any thinking problem from vascular causes, including milder ones.
At autopsy, vascular damage and Alzheimer's pathology are very often found together, which is why many papers use the term mixed dementia. The same risk factors that damage the heart, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and high cholesterol, raise the risk of vascular dementia, so much of the research is about whether treating them protects the brain.
This page describes what published research in alzhub's library reports. It is not medical advice and does not apply to any one person: a doctor who knows the person's history is the only one who can say what a result or a treatment means for them.
What the studies report, in their own words
Whole sentences copied from the abstract or key findings of the highest-scoring matched studies, chosen because they mention the subject and give a figure. 8 of the 1,203 matched records are quoted; each links to its study page and from there to the paper.
“INTERNATIONAL CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRY PORTAL IDENTIFIER: ISRCTN15483452 HIGHLIGHTS: We found focal areas of increased microglial signal and increased blood-brain barrier permeability in patients with small vessel disease.”
“The diabetes-associated RRs for vascular dementia were 2.34 (95% CI 1.86-2.94) in women and 1.73 (95% CI 1.61-1.85) in men, and for nonvascular dementia, the RRs were 1.53 (95% CI 1.35-1.73) in women and 1.49 (95% CI 1.31-1.69) in men.”
“Pooling data on more than 600,000 people, this meta-analysis found that people who reported feeling lonely had about a 30% higher risk of developing dementia overall, and even higher risk for vascular dementia specifically, even after accounting for depression and objective social isolation.”
“For ACD, novel loci identified were associated with energy transport (SEMA4D), neuronal excitability (ANO3), amyloid deposition in the brain (RBFOX1), and magnetic resonance imaging markers of small vessel disease (SVD; HBEGF).”
“WMH also conferred 25 % elevated risk of Alzheimer's disease and 73 % elevated risk of vascular dementia.”
“A meta-analysis of the six longitudinal studies showed that hypertension was significantly associated with increased risk of incident VaD (odds ratio, OR: 1.59, CI: 1.29-1.95, p < 0.0001).”
“Obstructive sleep apnea increased the risk for AD (HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.24-1.69), though its association with vascular dementia did not reach statistical significance (HR 1.35, 95% CI 0.99-1.84).”
“Pooling data on over 2.3 million people worldwide, this analysis confirmed that type 2 diabetes raises dementia risk by roughly 60% in both men and women, but the excess risk of vascular dementia specifically was notably higher in women than men.”
What kind of evidence it is
By study design
| Design (as recorded) | Studies |
|---|---|
| Systematic review or meta-analysis | 89 |
| Randomised controlled trial | 14 |
| Other clinical trial | 4 |
| Cohort or longitudinal study | 172 |
| Case-control study | 14 |
| Cross-sectional study | 64 |
| Other recorded design | 7 |
| No design recorded | 839 |
The design is the one named in alzhub's record for the study; a record with none is counted as "no design recorded".
By year
| Year | Studies | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 78 | |
| 2025 | 244 | |
| 2024 | 35 | |
| 2023 | 43 | |
| 2022 | 54 | |
| 2021 | 46 | |
| 2020 | 39 | |
| 2019 | 46 | |
| 2018 | 39 | |
| 2017 | 37 | |
| 2016 and earlier | 542 |
Other counts within the matched set
| Peer-reviewed articles | 1,171 |
| Marked open access in the record | 398 |
| Rated "high" evidence strength in alzhub's summary | 143 |
| Rated "moderate" evidence strength in alzhub's summary | 308 |
| Rated "low" evidence strength in alzhub's summary | 748 |
| No evidence-strength rating | 4 |
| Records stating a participant count | 541 |
| Median participants (those records) | 490 |
| Largest participant count | 4,227,297 |
Within the 1,203 matched studies
| Studies… | Count | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| …that also mention stroke | 262 | the abstract also contains "stroke" |
| …that also mention blood pressure or hypertension | 175 | the abstract also contains "blood pressure" or "hypertension" |
| …that also mention Alzheimer's in the same abstract | 813 | the abstract also contains "Alzheimer" |
| …that mention white matter changes | 248 | the abstract also contains "white matter" |
The 10 highest-scoring matched studies
Title matches first, then by alzhub's usefulness score, which rates a study's design, journal, evidence and recency, not whether its result is good news.
- MINocyclinE to Reduce inflammation and blood-brain barrier leakage in small Vessel diseAse (MINERVA): A phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled experimental medicine trial
- A genome-wide association meta-analysis of all-cause and vascular dementia
- Cerebral small vessel disease and the risk of dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based evidence
- Electroacupuncture improves vascular cognitive impairment no dementia: A Randomized Clinical Trial
- Cerebral small vessel disease and risk of incident stroke, dementia and depression, and all-cause mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis
- Hypertension is a potential risk factor for vascular dementia: systematic review
- Efficacy and adverse effects of cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine in vascular dementia: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
- Cholinesterase inhibitors for vascular dementia and other vascular cognitive impairments: a network meta-analysis
- Efficacy and tolerability of donepezil in vascular dementia: positive results of a 24-week, multicenter, international, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial
- Plasma NfL and GFAP for predicting VCI and related brain changes in community and clinical cohorts
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses in the set
89 of the matched records are recorded as a systematic review, meta-analysis or umbrella review; the highest-scoring not already listed above:
- Adult-onset hearing loss and incident cognitive impairment and dementia - A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
- Type 2 Diabetes as a Risk Factor for Dementia in Women Compared With Men: A Pooled Analysis of 2.3 Million People Comprising More Than 100,000 Cases of Dementia
- Associations between vision impairment and eye diseases with dementia, dementia subtypes and cognitive impairment: An umbrella review
- A Meta-analysis of Loneliness and Risk of Dementia using Longitudinal Data from >600,000 Individuals
- Impact of air pollution and climate change on mental health outcomes: an umbrella review of global evidence
Newest matched studies
- Brain-Derived pTau217 and Plasma Proteomic Profiles Across Cognitive and Dementia Groups in Congolese Older Adults
- Multimodal mediators connecting APOE4 to dementia
- Oligodendrocyte stress response as a driver of vascular dementia
- Dementia and PDE5 inhibitors: A retrospective cohort study of veterans
- Upper cervical spinal cord morphometric charts: from population references to individualized clinical assessment
Journals with the most matched studies
| Journal | Studies |
|---|---|
| Neurology | 90 |
| Stroke | 48 |
| Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD | 33 |
| Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association | 25 |
| Alzheimer s & Dementia | 21 |
Questions
- How is vascular dementia different from Alzheimer's?
- The cause is different: blood-vessel damage rather than amyloid and tau. Symptoms often appear or worsen in steps after a stroke, and slowed thinking and planning problems can be more prominent than memory loss early on. Many people have both conditions at once.
- How many studies on vascular dementia does alzhub hold?
- 1,203 of the 29,780 study records in alzhub's library match the query "title or abstract mentions "vascular dementia", "vascular cognitive impairment", "VaD", "VCI", "multi-infarct dementia", "subcortical ischaemic", "small vessel disease" or "mixed dementia""; 414 of them name it in the title. Counted from the records when this page was built.
- What kinds of study are they?
- 89 systematic review or meta-analysis, 14 randomised controlled trials, 4 other clinical trials, 172 cohort or longitudinal studys, 14 case-control studys, 64 cross-sectional studys; 839 record no design.
- What is the most recent study in the set?
- "Brain-Derived pTau217 and Plasma Proteomic Profiles Across Cognitive and Dementia Groups in Congolese Older Adults" (medRxiv, 2026), the newest by publication date among the matched records.
- Which journals publish most on it?
- Neurology (90); Stroke (48); Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD (33), counted across the matched records.
Read on
- Blood pressure and dementiaThe main modifiable cause of vascular damage.
- Lewy body dementia vs Alzheimer'sAnother dementia often confused with Alzheimer's.
- Getting a diagnosisWhat the diagnostic process involves.