Prevalence estimates for latent neurodegenerative disease.

Diseases that commonly cause dementia in the general population are Alzheimer's disease, microvascular brain injury, and Lewy body disease. Each of these is a chronic disease with latent, prodromal, and dementia stages. Here I present outcomes from validated neuropathologic assessments and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers to estimate the prevalence of the latent stage of diseases that commonly contribute to the dementia syndrome. The latent stage of diseases that commonly cause dementia is highly prevalent in the adult population, highlighting the need for prevention strategies and longitudinal studies.