Vascular health, diabetes, APOE and dementia: The aging, demographics, and memory study

Abstract

Introduction. Evidence from clinical samples and geographically limited population studies suggests that vascular health, diabetes and apolipoprotein 4 (APOE) are associated with dementia. Methods. A population-based sample of 856 individuals aged 71 years or older from all contiguous regions of the United States received an extensive in-home clinical and neuropsychological assessment in 2001-2003. The relation of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, medication usage, and APOE 4 to dementia was modelled using adjusted multivariable logistic regression. Results. Treated stroke (odds ratio [OR] 3.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.0, 7.2), untreated stroke (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.7, 7.3), and APOE 4 (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.7, 4.5) all increased the odds of dementia. Treated hypertension was associated with lower odds of dementia (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3, 1.0). Diabetes and heart disease were not significantly associated with dementia. A significant interaction was observed between APOE 4 and stroke (P = 0.001). Conclusions. Data from the first dementia study that is representative of the United States population suggest that stroke, the APOE 4 allele and their interaction are strongly associated with dementia. © 2010 Llewellyn et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.