PITTSBURGH, July 6 (UPI) -- Adults with damaged blood vessels in the brain or atrophy in their temporal lobe are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, a new study shows.
Older adults with signs of both conditions were seven times more likely to develop Alzheimer's than their peers, said the study reported in the Journal of Neuroimaging.
Alzheimer's disease is already associated with other risk factors such as poor cognitive scores, education or health conditions, said study author Caterina Rosano.
"This study, because it focused on healthy, cognitively normal adults, shows that there other risk factors we need to consider," Rosano said.
Blood vessel damage in the brain is more likely to occur in patients with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, she said.
"Since we know that prevention of these conditions can lower risk of heart attack and stroke," she said, "it is likely that it would also lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's."
