The links between complex coronary disease, cerebrovascular disease, and degenerative brain disease.

Our appreciation of the complexity of cardiovascular disease is growing rapidly. Consistent with the fact that the vasculature is an omnipresent system that carries blood to every organ in the body, an expanding number of conditions are now known to be directly associated with disturbed cardiovascular function or vascular pathology. In particular, cardiovascular disease has recently been implicated as playing a major role in dementia and other forms of degenerative brain disease. Here, we explore some of the many emerging relationships between cardiovascular risk factors, complex coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and degenerative brain disease.