Cardiometabolic and Vascular Disease Factors and Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

There is empirical evidence that cardiovascular risk factors and vascular pathology contribute to cognitive impairment and dementia.

We profiled cardiometabolic and vascular disease (CMVD) and CMVD burden in community-living older adults in the Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Study cohort and examined the association of CMVD risk markers with the prevalence and incidence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia from a median 3.8 years of follow-up.

Prevalent MCI and dementia, compared with normal cognition, was associated with higher proportions of persons with any CMVD, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation, or stroke. Diabetes, stroke, and the number of CMVD risk markers remained significantly associated with dementia or MCI after adjusting for age, sex, formal education level, APOE-ε4 genotype, and level of physical, social, or productive activities, with odds ratios ranging from 1.3 to 5.7. Among cognitively normal participants who were followed up, any CMVD risk factor, dyslipidemia, diabetes, or heart failure at baseline predicted incident MCI or its progression to dementia after adjusting for potential confounders.

Older adults with higher burden of CMVD, driven especially by diabetes, are likely to increase the risk of prevalent and incident MCI and dementia.