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(Stroke. 2006;37:279.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorials

Can We Escape Stroke and Alzheimer Disease?

Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD Giancarlo Logroscino, MD, PhD

From the Divisions of Aging (T.K., G.L.) and Preventive Medicine (T.K.), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass; and Department of Epidemiology (T.K., G.L.), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.

Correspondence to Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD, Division of Aging, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 1620 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02120-1613. E-mail tkurth@rics.bwh.harvard.edu

Key Words: Alzheimer disease • epidemiology • stroke

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Stroke and Alzheimer disease are major public health burdens that account for substantial disability and extensive cost.^1,2 In addition, these diseases currently tie as the third most common cause of death in the United States,³ and both will become more important as life expectancy increases. Annually, 15 million people worldwide experience a stroke, of which 5 million are fatal and an equal number are left permanently disabled and in need of assistance for activities of daily living. In the United States alone, approximately 700 000 people have a stroke each year, of which 500 000 are first stroke events.¹ Recent evidence suggests that stroke is at least as frequent as acute coronary events.⁴

Alzheimer disease accounts for 60% to 70% of cases of progressive cognitive impairment in elderly patients in Western societies.⁵ The prevalence of Alzheimer disease exceeds 4 million in the United States alone,⁶ and each year, >400 000 new cases are diagnosed. Assuming current trends, the numbers are expected to more than triple over the next 50 years.⁶

Increasing age is the strongest predictor for both stroke and Alzheimer disease. Atherosclerosis is an established risk factor for stroke, but over the last decade, the evidence has accumulated that Alzheimer disease is also associated with vascular risk factors and atherosclerosis independent of age.^7,8 For example, various measures of atherosclerosis including vessel wall thickness, plaques of the carotid and coronary arteries, and the ratio of ankle-to-brachial systolic blood pressure have all been associated with Alzheimer disease.^9,10 In addition, older adults . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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