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Abstract: The relation between pulse pressure (PP) and Alzheimer disease (AD) remains unclear. We performed this study to investigate the relation between PP and AD and the impact of PP to impair cognitive performance on this relationship. It is a cross-sectional study from the Neurology Memory Clinic of Chungnam National University Hospital and five senior welfare centers in the city of Taejon, Korea. A cohort of 75 patients with AD and 117 control subjects were enrolled for the study. PP was significantly higher whereas mean arterial pressure (MAP) was lower in patients with AD than those of control subjects. Elevated serum total cholesterol (TC) level was significantly associated with both PP and MAP in control subjects as well as patients with AD. We found a significant relationship between PP and cerebral white matter changes (WMCs) in AD. PP changes correlate with leukoaraiosis in AD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Pathophysiological aspects of dementia and its rate of cognitive deterioration could be dependent on disease subtype, Alzheimer''s dementia (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and Parkinson''s disease with dementia (PDD). 150 patients diagnosed at the Chungnam National University Hospital (87 women and 63 men) memory clinic. The participants consisted of 68 patients with AD, 23 patients with VaD, and 59 patients with PDD, who were diagnosed by the individual criteria, respectively. Cognitive screening was evaluated using the Korean version of the mini-mental state examination (MMSE). Repeated evaluations were conducted at 6-month, 1 year, and 2 years after initial baseline assessment. Rates of cognitive decline were calculated by dividing MMSE score differences by the number of months lapsed. No difference was found between the three dementia subtypes with respect to baseline MMSE scores. Cognitive decline was not obvious up to 6-month of the follow-up, but by 12-month of follow-ups was significant regardless of the dementia subtype. Furthermore, the rate of cognitive decline in the AD group was significantly faster than in the PDD or VaD groups. This study suggests that rate of cognitive deterioration in dementia is not linear over time and that dementia subtypes have different rates of cognitive deterioration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]