Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE)

The CAIDE study (Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia) investigates the lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors for dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and structural brain changes using the follow-up period extending up to almost thirty years. The main aim of the study is to explore the modifiable risk and protective factors for dementia and AD, and also gene-environmental interactions, with special focus on the effects and putative interactions between the apoE epsilon4 allele and lifestyle risk factors.

The study includes a total of 1511 Finnish participants who were randomly selected from four separate, previous population-based samples originally studied at an average age of 50 years. The CAIDE re-examinations were carried out in 1998 and 2005-2008 when the participants were an average of 71 years old at the first, and 79 years old at the second re-examination. CAIDE examinations included detailed neurological, cardiovascular and neuropsychological examination and extensive self-reported questionnaires. In addition a subpopulation was scanned using the magnetic resonance imaging.

During the recent years this multidisciplinary study has provided sufficient evidence that vascular risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, vascular diseases and psychosocial factors significantly contribute to the development cognitive decline (including dementia and AD) but that active lifestyle including physical activity and healthy diet may reduce the risk of the disease.

Professor Miia Kivipelto leads the CAIDE project. The study is a joint collaboration between National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland, University of Eastern Finland and Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Until now, the CAIDE data have resulted in nine dissertations, and over thirty original scientific articles published in high impact esteemed journals.