Can the treatment of vascular risk factors slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease patients?

Dementia is a widespread disorder with major medical, economic and societal costs. Controlling vascular conditions could be one way of delaying the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In fact, vascular risk factors are implicated in AD occurrence. However, it has not been clearly determined whether these vascular factors also affect disease progression itself and thus whether controlling vascular conditions can slow this progression. The treatment of vascular risk factors could have an impact on disease progression by slowing the development of the vascular component. In the present article, we review the potential value of managing hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia or global vascular risk factors in AD patients.