Stroke prevention therapy beyond antithrombotics: unifying mechanisms in ischemic stroke pathogenesis and implications for therapy: an invited review.

Background: It is estimated that about half of cardiovascular disease risk is explained by conventional risk factors. The realization that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease has led to a search for new stroke and cardiovascular disease risk factors and treatments. As such, the vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque has become the main focus for new medical strategies for plaque stabilization and stroke prevention.

Cognitive and functional decline in African Americans with VaD, AD, and stroke without dementia.

Objective: To compare the rates of cognitive and functional decline in African American patients diagnosed at baseline with vascular dementia (VaD) (n = 79), AD (n = 113), or stroke without dementia (SWD) (n = 56) and followed for up to 7 years with annual neuropsychological and other examinations.

Methods: Study patients were diagnosed using established criteria for dementia and were administered cognitive screening, functional screening, and neuropsychological measures. Baseline dementia severity was rated using the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale.

Stroke in Elderly African-Americans.

About 85% of strokes in the U.S. occur in people over 65 years of age.