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Vascular Dementia
Vascular dementia comes second after Alzheimer’s disease and accounts for about fifteen
to twenty percent of dementia cases in Europe and North America (Wolters and Ikram, 1544).
Vascular dementia refers to transformations in behavior, thinking, and memory due to conditions
that affect blood vessels in the brain. The vascular changes’ location, size, and number can
significantly affect brain functioning (National Institute on Aging). Different conditions that
damage blood vessels in the brain and interrupt the flow of oxygen and blood supply to the brain
cause vascular dementia. The disease’s symptoms include forgetting, getting lost, losing interest
in things or people, and delusions. There is no direct treatment for vascular dementia. The
condition is managed with medications to reduce the risk of additional brain damage and prevent
strokes.
Scientists attribute conditions that damage the brain’s blood vessels and interrupt oxygen
supply and blood flow to the brain to the development of vascular dementia. In most cases,
individuals diagnosed with vascular dementia have brain abnormalities that can be seen on MRI
scans (National Institute on Aging). Evidence of strokes that sometimes have no symptoms are
part of the abnormalities found in people with vascular dementia. Apart from that, the experience
of major strokes can lead to vascular dementia. However, not everyone who has a stroke gets
vascular dementia.
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Analyses of the brains of people with vascular dementia have shown other abnormalities,
including changes in the white matter and diseased small blood vessels (National Institute on
Aging). Changes in the white matter affect how the brain functions because the white matter’s
function is to relay messages between brain regions.
The risks for vascular dementia include underlying medical conditions such as
cerebrovascular disease involving the brain and resulting dementia and cognitive impairment.
Cardiovascular diseases involving blood vessels and the heart also increase the possibility of
developing vascular dementia (National Institute on Aging). Old age is also another risk factor
for developing vascular dementia. Nonetheless, the age-specific risk of dementia has declined
significantly in the past decade due to improved vascular care (Wolters and Ikram 1544).
Besides, the reduction in small cerebral vessels disease burdens has contributed to the decline in
age-specific risk of vascular dementia.
Individuals with vascular dementia may experience various symptoms, including
challenges in doing tasks that they used to accomplish easily, difficulty learning new information
or following routines and instructions, and misplacing items. Other symptoms of vascular
dementia are language hitches such as using the wrong word or difficulty finding the right word,
problems with mastering routes, forgetting current and past events, and difficulty writing or
reading. Vascular dementia patients may also experience changes in sleep patterns, changes in
mood, behavior, and personality, delusions or hallucinations, and inability to perceive danger or
poor judgment (National Institute on Aging). The symptoms vary depending on the patient’s
brain section where blood flow is impaired.
The treatment for vascular dementia depends on the diseases processes that led to the
condition. Health professionals recommend managing vascular dementia with stroke by
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preventing medications and reducing the possibilities of brain damage. Some research findings
suggest that medications for Alzheimer’s disease can be useful in treating patients with an early
form of vascular dementia (National Institute on Aging). Treating diabetes, high blood pressure,
heart rhythm, beat problems, and high cholesterol risk factors can prevent stroke and reduce the
risks of brain damage.
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Works Cited
National Institute on Aging. “Vascular Dementia: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments.” National
Institute on Aging, 2021, https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/vascular-dementia.
Wolters, Frank J., and M. Arfan Ikram. “Epidemiology of Vascular Dementia.” Arteriosclerosis,
Thrombosis, And Vascular Biology, vol 39, no. 8, 2019, pp. 1542-1549. Ovid Technologies
(Wolters Kluwer Health), https://doi.org/10.1161/atvbaha.119.311908. Accessed 23 Apr 2022.
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