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Vascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease
Cechetto DF, Hachinski V, Whitehead SN.. Expert review of neurotherapeutics, 2008-05-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Vascular cognitive impairment risk factors include stroke, hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis. In the elderly, vascular risk factors occur in the presence of high levels of amyloid in the aging brain. Stroke alters the clinical expression of a given load of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Experimentally, large vessel infarcts or small striatal infarcts are larger in the presence of amyloid. Patients with minor cerebral infarcts and moderate AD lesions will develop the clinical manifestations of dementia. Moreover, there is also an association between other vascular risk factors and the clinical expression of cognitive decline and dementia. The risk of AD is increased in subjects with adult-onset diabetes mellitus, hypertension, atherosclerotic disease and atrial fibrillation. Experimentally, small striatal infarcts in the presence of high levels of amyloid in the brain exhibit a progression in infarct size over time with enhanced degree of cognitive impairment, AD-type pathology and neuroinflammation compared with striatal infarcts or high amyloid levels alone.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Cechetto, D. F., Hachinski, V., & Whitehead, S. N. (2008). Vascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease. Expert review of neurotherapeutics. https://doi.org/10.1586/14737175.8.5.743
Vancouver
Cechetto DF, Hachinski V, Whitehead SN. Vascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease. Expert review of neurotherapeutics. 2008. doi:10.1586/14737175.8.5.743. PMID: 18457531.
BibTeX
@article{cechetto2008-18457531,
author = {Cechetto, D. F. and Hachinski, V. and Whitehead, S. N.},
title = {{Vascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Expert review of neurotherapeutics},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1586/14737175.8.5.743},
pmid = {18457531},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1586/14737175.8.5.743}
}
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Key findings
- Experimentally, small striatal infarcts in the presence of high levels of amyloid in the brain exhibit a progression in infarct size over time with enhanced degree of cognitive impairment, AD-type pathology and neuroinflammation compared with striatal infarcts or high amyloid levels alone.
Why it matters
This review describes how vascular risk factors such as stroke, hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis interact with Alzheimer's disease, noting that the risk of AD is increased in people with adult-onset diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerotic disease and atrial fibrillation. In experiments, small strokes combined with high brain amyloid led to growing damage, more cognitive impairment and more neuroinflammation than either alone. The picture is that blood vessel damage and Alzheimer's changes add together in producing dementia.
Study details
- Study designmeta-analysis
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported and studied in people because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Expert review of neurotherapeutics) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics: journal h-index 125 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A meta-analysis pooling many studies |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2008 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 129 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 6.5 citations a year over 20 year(s) since 2008 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 9.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 7 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 11 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Shawn Narain Whitehead: h-index 32 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Ottawa: institution h-index 908 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 18457531) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
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