Title:The Honolulu-Asia Aging Study: Epidemiologic and Neuropathologic Research on Cognitive Impairment
Volume: 9
Issue: 6
Author(s): Rebecca P. Gelber, Lenore J. Launer and Lon R. White
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Cognitive impairment, neuropathology, dementia, epidemiology, Alzheimer’s disease, autopsy, cerebellum
Abstract: The Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS) is a longitudinal epidemiologic investigation of rates, risk factors,
and neuropathologic abnormalities associated with cognitive decline and dementia in aged Japanese-American men. The
project was established in 1991 and will be brought to closure in 2012. Age-specific rates of total dementia and the major
specific types of dementia in HAAS participants are generally similar to those reported from other geographic, cultural,
and ethnic populations. Risk factors for dementia in the HAAS include midlife hypertension and other factors previously
shown to influence cardiovascular disease. The autopsy component of the project has yielded novel findings, the most illuminating
of which is the demonstration of 5 important lesion types linked independently to cognitive impairment. While
one of these – generalized atrophy – is strongly associated with both Alzheimer lesions and microinfarcts, it also occurs in
the absence of these lesions and is independently correlated with dementia. Each lesion type is viewed as representing a
distinct underlying pathogenic process. Their summed influences is an especially robust correlate of dementia in the
months and years prior to death.
