What are the first symptoms most likely to be seen in vascular dementia?

How does vascular dementia begin?

Vascular dementia is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain, which damages and eventually kills brain cells. This can happen as a result of: narrowing and blockage of the small blood vessels inside the brain. a single stroke, where the blood supply to part of the brain is suddenly cut off.

What is the first stage of vascular dementia?

Very mild cognitive decline/forgetfulness

In the very early stages, the first sign that a person has vascular dementia is forgetfulness, but many people confuse this with general age-related forgetfulness. You may notice yourself or your loved one forgetting where you've placed items in the house.

Which presenting symptoms are commonly typical of vascular dementia?

How fast does vascular dementia progress?

When it results from a stroke, symptoms are more likely to begin suddenly. About 20% of people who suffer a stroke will develop vascular dementia within six months. Whether or not changes in thinking, memory, or mental ability occur will depend on the area of the brain the stroke affected.

Vascular dementia - causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, pathology

How does a person act with vascular dementia?

People with VaD may exhibit the following behavior: Problems with thinking, walking and performing everyday activities are the most prominent symptoms. Many people with VaD also suffer from depression, which can result in less motivation to perform their usual activities or a lack of interest in the world around them.

What is the lifespan of someone with vascular dementia?

On average, people with vascular dementia live for around five years after symptoms begin, less than the average for Alzheimer's disease. Because vascular dementia shares many of the same risk factors as heart attack and stroke, in many cases, the person's death will be caused by a stroke or heart attack.

What part of the brain does vascular dementia affect first?

This disease often causes widespread damage to white matter beneath the cortex. These nerve fibres carry signals between different parts of the cortex, including the frontal lobes. A person with subcortical vascular dementia will therefore often have slowed thinking and problems with executive function.

Does vascular dementia affect your legs?

As more strokes occur and dementia progresses, people may have other symptoms due to the strokes. An arm or a leg may become weak or paralyzed.

What is the biggest risk factor for vascular dementia?

Ageing. The biggest risk factor for vascular dementia is ageing. Once a person gets to 65, their risk of developing the condition roughly doubles every five years.

What are the signs that vascular dementia is getting worse?

As a person's vascular dementia progresses, they may begin to behave in ways that seem out of character. For example, they may become more agitated or aggressive, or have sleep problems. They may also act in ways that others find embarrassing or difficult to understand.

What is the 3 word memory test?

The Mini-Cog test.

A third test, known as the Mini-Cog, takes 2 to 4 minutes to administer and involves asking patients to recall three words after drawing a picture of a clock. If a patient shows no difficulties recalling the words, it is inferred that he or she does not have dementia.

What happens to the body with vascular dementia?

Vascular dementia refers to changes to memory, thinking, and behavior resulting from conditions that affect the blood vessels in the brain. Cognition and brain function can be significantly affected by the size, location, and number of vascular changes.

Does vascular dementia affect walking?

Another clue is impaired coordination or balance. In vascular dementia, problems walking or balancing can happen early. With Alzheimer's, these symptoms usually occur late in the disease.

What is the best medication for vascular dementia?

medicines such as low-dose aspirin or clopidogrel to reduce the risk of blood clots and further strokes. anticoagulant medicines, such as warfarin, which can also reduce the risk of blood clots and further strokes.

Do people with vascular dementia know they have dementia?

They may be aware of their symptoms, but they may not suspect dementia as the cause. If an individual consults a medical professional about these symptoms, they may receive a diagnosis. People in the early stages of dementia may understand their diagnosis and its implications.

What is the 5 word memory test?

Introduction: The five-word test (5WT) is a serial verbal memory test with semantic cuing. It is proposed to rapidly evaluate memory of aging people and has previously shown its sensitivity and its specificity in identifying patients with AD.

Do you sleep more with vascular dementia?

It is quite common for a person with dementia, especially in the later stages, to spend a lot of their time sleeping – both during the day and night. This can sometimes be distressing for the person's family and friends, as they may worry that something is wrong.

What are the 2 main causes of vascular dementia?

Vascular dementia is generally caused by conditions that occur most often in older people, such as atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), heart disease, and stroke. The number of people older than 65 years is increasing. People are living longer with chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Is there pain with vascular dementia?

Vascular dementia has been associated with slightly higher pain prevalences, probably because of the possibility that the brain white matter lesions are the cause of central pain.

Can a person with vascular dementia live alone?

You and your family may worry about how long you can look after yourself, particularly if you live alone. Everyone experiences dementia differently and the rate at which symptoms become worse varies from person to person. But with the right support when you need it, many people live independently for several years.

At what stage do dementia patients forget family members?

Stage 6. In stage 6 of dementia, a person may start forgetting the names of close loved ones and have little memory of recent events. Communication is severely disabled and delusions, compulsions, anxiety, and agitation may occur.

Is vascular dementia inherited from mother or father?

In most cases, vascular dementia itself is not inherited.

Other than in a few, very rare cases, parents cannot pass on vascular dementia to their children. However, a parent may pass certain genes that increase the risk of developing vascular dementia.

How do you look after someone with vascular dementia?

What not to say to someone with vascular dementia?

I'm going to discuss five of the most basic ones here: 1) Don't tell them they are wrong about something, 2) Don't argue with them, 3) Don't ask if they remember something, 4) Don't remind them that their spouse, parent or other loved one is dead, and 5) Don't bring up topics that may upset them.