Table 1.
General characteristics of the study population at baseline.
| Age | 72.4 ± 5.9 |
| Gender (males/females) | 59/54 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 27.5 ± 4.1 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 198.2 ± 47.0 |
| HDL-C (mg/dL) | 48.1 ± 12.4 |
| LDL-C (mg/dL) | 119.5 ± 44.2 |
| Triglyceride (mg/dL) | 154.9 ± 68.1 |
| SBP (mmHg) | 138.8 ± 15.2 |
| DBP (mmHg) | 78.3 ± 8 |
| GSM | 32.1 ± 13.7 |
| NASCET (%) | 43.6 ± 20.8 |
| Hypertension (%) | 91 (80.5%) |
| Hypercholesterolemia (%) | 83 (73.5%) |
| Diabetes mellitus (%) | 22 (19.5%) |
| Smoking (%) | 17 (15.0%) |
| MMSE score | 27.5 ± 1.8 |
| TMT-A (seconds) | 78.6 ± 35.6 |
| TMT-B (seconds) | 178.6 ± 78.3 |
| TMT B-A (seconds) | 99.9 ± 57.2 |
| VFT (n. words) | 21.4 ± 7.8 |
| z-score | 0.01 ± 3.3 |
BMI: body mass index; HDL: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; GSM: gray-scale median; NASCET: North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial; MMSE: Mini Mental State Examination; TMT: Trail Making Test; VFT: Verbal Fluency Test.