Raised systolic blood pressure and high serum cholesterol concentration, particularly in combination, in midlife increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease in later life. More emphasis should therefore be placed on identifying and treating these risk factors. Kivipelto et al (p 1447) followed 1449 Finnish men and women over an average of 21 years and found that after adjusting for age, body mass index, education, vascular events, smoking status and alcohol consumption, the odds ratio for developing Alzheimer's in later life was 2.3 for raised systolic blood pressure and 2.1 for raised cholesterol. A combination of these factors gave an odds ratio of 3.5. Raised diastolic blood pressure had no significant effect.
SUE SHARPLES