Cardiovascular risk factors and small vessel disease of the brain: Blood pressure, white matter lesions, and functional decline in older persons.

ABSTRACT: Several potential vascular risk factors exist for the development and accumulation of subcortical white matter disease in older people. We have reported that in older people followed for up to 4 years white matter hyperintensity (WMH) lesions on magnetic resonance imaging nearly doubled in volume and were associated with alterations in mobility and cognitive function. Herein we review the genetic, metabolic, and vascular risk factors that have been evaluated in association with the development and pathogenesis of WMH in older persons. Our research efforts have focused on systemic hypertension, particularly in the out-of-office setting as 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) has proven to be a stronger indicator of the progression of WMH in older people and the associated functional decli

SUBMITTER: Abraham HM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4758547 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature