News Finding: The results showed that both elevated brain amyloid levels and higher vascular risk, as measured upon study enrollment, were associated with more rapid cognitive decline, with the most rapid changes seen in participants with elevations in both factors.
Paper Finding: Vascular risk maintained a strong association with cognitive decline beyond that of commonly used imaging biomarkers, including β-amyloid, hippocampal volume, fludeoxyglucose F18-labeled positron emission tomography, and white matter hyperintensities.
News Context: Measures of vascular risk also may be able to complement existing biomarkers in identifying people at the greatest risk of cognitive decline." The results showed that both elevated brain amyloid levels and higher vascular risk, as measured upon study enrollment, were associated with more rapid cognitive decline, with the most rapid changes seen in participants with elevations in both factors. The extent of the interaction between the two measures suggested a synergistic, rather than simply an additive effect.
Paper Context: Findings In this study, Framingham and other vascular risk algorithms were associated with longitudinal cognitive decline, both alone and synergistically with β-amyloid burden. Vascular risk maintained a strong association with cognitive decline beyond that of commonly used imaging biomarkers, including β-amyloid, hippocampal volume, fludeoxyglucose F18-labeled positron emission tomography, and white matter hyperintensities. Meaning Vascular risk may complement other imaging biomarkers in assessing risk of cognitive decline in older adults with preclinical Alzheimer disease.