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. 2020 Nov 8;12(11):e11378. doi: 10.7759/cureus.11378

Table 2. Summary of the most important included studies.

AD, Alzheimer's disease; RDW, red cell distribution width; Hb, hemoglobin.                        

Author/year Study type Number of patients Results/conclusion
Wolters et al., 2019 [11] Clinical Trials 12,305 All forms of anemia, including mild, moderate, and severe, are associated with an increased risk of dementia, including AD that may be correlated with changes in the integrity of White Matter and cerebral perfusion.
Michalak et al., 2019 [12] Clinical Trials 981 The growing prevalence of unexplained anemia (UA) in the elderly population with age, inadequate diagnosis, and higher mortality of patients with UA as opposed to the community without anemia suggest the need for primary care physicians to establish guidelines for their management.
Altinoz et al., 2019 [13] Review Study N/A Intracellular Hb. can protect neuron cells from hypoxia or oxidative stress. However, extracellular free Hb. can cause inflammation and damage to neurons
Park et al., 2015 [14] Clinical Trial 2,504 Low Hb. levels can affect cortical brain integrity and lead to cortical brain atrophy.
Weuve et al., 2014 [15] Observational Study 7,813 RDW could be an indicator of dementia risk in patients without anemia and can also predict it.
Zhang and Le 2010 [16] Review Study N/A Patients with cerebral ischemia and stroke, who experience hypoxic conditions, are much more vulnerable to AD.