Vascular Development, Stroke and Neurodegenerative Disease: A Place for Novel Clinical Interventions?

Stroke and Alzheimer΄s disease (AD) are leading causes of dementia in developed countries. Up until now, both diseases, vascular dementia (VaD) and AD were considered as completely different entities with their own physiopathology. The former due to a brain circulation impairment, and the latter due to a primary brain degenerative disorder. However recent epidemiological studies as well as neuropathological findings have suggested common features between both entities. Thus some authors have suggested the `vascular hypothesis of AD΄, considering AD as a vascular disease with neurodegenerative consequences or `vasocognopathy΄. This has pharmacological implications as it opens up the possibility for novel therapeutic approaches for treatment of AD, for example by stimulation of angiogenesis in the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]