Role of Morbidity Clusters in Midlife on Ischemic Stroke Incidence and Severity: The ARIC Study.

Background: There is a strong association between vascular risk factors, particularly in midlife, and stroke risk; therefore, the co-occurrence of multiple risk factors may be especially informative. This study used a machine-learning-based cluster analysis to group individuals into clusters based on similar clinical profiles in midlife and assessed the clusters' associations with stroke risk and severity.

Methods: Participants (N=15 404) without prevalent stroke from the ARIC study (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) were included.

Birth weight, incident dementia risk, and PET amyloid burden: The ARIC study.

Introduction: The relationships among birth weight (BW), incident dementia, and amyloid beta (Aβ) are unknown.

Methods: Ten thousand four hundred seventy-six Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study participants without dementia reported their BW (1996-1998; low [< 5.5 lbs], medium [5.

Associations between mid-life social relationships and the risk of incident dementia: The ARIC study.

Introduction: This study aimed to assess whether mid-life social relationships are associated with a lower risk of late-life dementia.

Methods: Participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study were assessed for social support and isolation (Visit 2;1990-1992). A composite measure, "social relationships," was generated.

Blood pressure and the brain: the conundrum of hypertension and dementia.

As the population ages, the anticipated rates of dementia worldwide are likely to increase dramatically, especially in low- and middle-income countries; thus, any opportunity to modify dementia risk is especially critical. Hypertension is one risk factor that is highly prevalent, consistently important for late-life brain health, and which could represent a target for prevention of dementia. Furthermore, hypertension is the most significant modifiable risk factor for stroke.

Associations Between Mid-Life Psychosocial Measures and Estimated Late Life Amyloid Burden: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC)-PET Study.

Background: Psychosocial factors are modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD). One mechanism linking psychosocial factors to AD risk may be through biological measures of brain amyloid; however, this association has not been widely studied.

Objective: To determine if mid-life measures of social support and social isolation in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study cohort are associated with late life brain amyloid burden, measured using florbetapir positron emission tomography (PET).

Biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease in Black and/or African American Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) participants.

Majority of dementia research is conducted in non-Hispanic White participants despite a greater prevalence of dementia in other racial groups. To obtain a better understanding of biomarker presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the non-Hispanic White population, this study exclusively examined AD biomarker abnormalities in 85 Black and/or African American participants within the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Participants were classified by the ADNI into 3 clinical groups: cognitively normal, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia.

Annualized changes in rate of amyloid deposition and neurodegeneration are greater in participants who become amyloid positive than those who remain amyloid negative.

This study longitudinally examined participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) who underwent a conversion in amyloid-beta (Aβ) status in comparison to a group of ADNI participants who did not show a change in amyloid status over the same follow-up period. Participants included 136 ADNI dementia-free participants with 2 florbetapir positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Of these participants, 68 showed amyloid conversion as measured on florbetapir PET, and the other 68 did not.