Evaluation of aging vs. dementia by means of neurosonology

Aging is often associated with some cognitive impairment. Greater population life expectancy is one explanation for increased incidence of cognitive impairment cases. Large number of people with cognitive impairment and dementia is becoming one of the most important medical and social problems worldwide. Therefore, prevention of Alzheimer disease is becoming an imperative. Dementia includes a heterogeneous group of disorders, the most common being Alzheimer dementia (AD) and vascular dementia (VD). Most cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholsterolemia, atrial fibrillation, and smoking are not exclusively risk factors for VD, but also for AD. Intracranial hemodynamics of the aging brain can be assessed by Transcranial Doppler Sonography (TCD), functional TCD with various functional tests, and TCD detection of cerebral emboli. Extracranial circulation can be assessed by means of color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI). New neurosonology techniques and possibilities provide information necessary to closer determine the relation between cognitive deterioration and vascular risk factors, so that the evolution towards dementia could be prevented or at least postponed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.