What is vascular dementia?

Vascular dementia is the most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s. Whereas with Alzheimer’s, the symptoms come on relatively slowly, with vascular, the symptoms generally come on more suddenly. The main issue with vascular dementia is the blood supply to the brain. 

Risk after stroke

The prevalence of vascular dementia is heightened after a stroke or a series of strokes. 

A stroke and vascular dementia are similar in that both instances cause the restriction of the blood supply which leads directly to the death of brain tissue. 

What is the difference between vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s?

One of the main differences between vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s is the underlying disease process. As mentioned, Alzheimer’s causes the brain to shrink over time, with brain cells taking longer to die. In Vascular dementia, the event that causes the problem is distinct, there is a specific moment when the blood vessels become blocked. This results in a situation where a patient may be stable for quite a long period of time, no deterioration, and then all of a sudden, another set of blood vessels are impacted and more brain tissue dies. A sudden clot is more likely to be caused by the thickening of the walls of the blood vessels where fatty deposits have accumulated.

How can you support symptoms

In that sense, when looking at ways to combat vascular dementia, it is best to approach in the way you would when looking to improve lifestyle to stave off the threat of a heart attack. As the saying goes, “What’s good for your heart is good for your head”.

When looking at specific symptoms of vascular dementia, it will depend on what part of the brain has been impacted. 

Different types of Vascular Dementia and symptoms

Firstly we have ‘multi-infarct’ dementia. This is where you have a sort of overall effect on the brain, where a series of mini strokes have impacted numerous parts of the brain. This is the most common symptom of vascular dementia.

Each part of the brain performs a different function, so with the use of a brain scan, the medical team can gain an insight into what issues/problems will be caused and in turn, what challenges you may expect from the patient. 

The next symptom we can look at is called ‘subcortical dementia’, or ‘Binswanger’s Disease’ as it’s sometimes referred to. When a stroke occurs, brain tissue deep within the brain, at the ‘subcortical’ level can be damaged. If this happens, the patient is most likely to be affected by poor walking ability, clumsiness, speech problems and lack of facial expression’. 

Vascular dementia can be hereditary. People from Pakistan/Sri Lanka/Afro-Caribbean countries and India have a higher prevalence of vascular risk factors, and more research needs to be carried out to understand what these groups of people can do to combat the disease. 

Helping to alleviate disease progression

It is a progressive disorder, but treatment of the underlying causes can help to slow the rate at which the disease takes hold. A few areas that need to be focused on with regards to improving health and reducing risk/reducing rate of decline for the patient are as follows;

• Reduction in high blood pressure.

• Reducing levels of cholesterol

• Managing diabetes, reducing chances

• Reduction in heart problems,

There is no specific drug that can be proscribed, unlike Alheimer’s, but as 10% of people can have a mix of Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, then this medication will be open to them. 

The key to reducing a person’s chances of getting vascular dementia is to focus on a healthy lifestyle, including improvements to diet, exercise, reducing stress levels etc etc. Recent health campaigns to stop people smoking, and keeping fit have helped to improve the chances of people avoiding dementia or living a better life with it.