Vascular Dementia Symptoms

Vascular dementia is a type of dementia where the blood supply to the brain is completely blocked. This is a very serious condition and may lead to Alzheimer’s disease.

The vascular system is responsible for supply of nutrients and oxygen to the brain. Due to some problem in the vascular system, this supply is completely  blocked. It starts with small strokes. These strokes often go unnoticed.

These strokes affect the cortex region of the brain. This region is primarily responsible for understanding of language, memory and learning. These small strokes medically called as transient ischemic attacks. During these attacks there occurs inability to see or remain in conscious.

There are many characteristic symptoms and signs of dementia.  From the physical activities it can be observed that person develops weak memory. They tend to forget things easily. They are often found dizzy. Sometimes, the physical movements become rapid, like rapid walking or blinking. They may even lose control over voluntary functions of bowel movements and bladder.

The behavior of the patients can also be observed. Often, such patients tend to get lost in most familiar surroundings, for example their home or office. They may have slurred speech and unable to comprehend and response to what has been asked to them. They may show emotional imbalance. They may laugh or cry inappropriately. The strokes may develop into some more difficult to handle .  The patient  must be given complete medical care and as required must be kept under strict supervision.

There are many factors which tend to aggravate to lead to development of vascular dementia. To have a heart disease is the most common reason for occurrence of it. Other conditions include uncontrollable high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and smoking.

Vascular dementia proceeds with age. The risks are higher for people above 60 years but this is no hard rule. Men suffer more commonly of vascular dementia than women.