Here Is Everything You Need To Know About Vascular Dementia

A popular quote on memories goes like this, "Memory is the way of holding on to things that you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose".

Most of us would agree with the above-mentioned quote, right?
Without the ability to have memories, the human race would not have been able to evolve like we have now, with a highly advanced intellect.

Without memory skills, it would be extremely difficult for us to lead a normal life. We would not have been able to learn things, or get good jobs, earn a living and so on. While those of us who have normal memory skills may not realise the consequences of memory impairment of loss, the unfortunate few who suffer from memory problems would be experiencing serious consequences.

There are a number of ailments which can affect the memory. Some of these ailments can affect a person in the form of birth defects or brain injuries or diseases that may affect them later on in life.

Now, we may know the fact that, as we age, the cells of our body begin to degenerate, in every organ of the body, including the brain. So, when the brain cells undergo the process of degeneration rapidly in the case of some people, it leads to conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and dementia, which are diseases mostly caused in the old age.

Both the above-mentioned diseases lead to the impairment of memory and learning functions of a person, causing forgetfulness, confusion, etc., which come in the way of leading a normal life.

Now, most of us would already familiar with dementia, however, we may not be aware of vascular dementia.

Here is everything you need to know about vascular dementia.

What Is Vascular Dementia?

Vascular dementia is a disease in which the memory skills, reasoning ability, learning skills and other such cognitive functions of a person are impaired due to the brain damage triggered by lack of blood flow to the brain.

Vascular dementia is also known as multi-infarct dementia, and it is a condition which can be treated by reducing the symptoms, but it has no cure. This disease is said to be the second most common type of memory impairment disease, coming after Alzheimer's disease.

How Is Vascular Dementia Different From Regular Dementia?

Although the symptoms of both dementia and vascular dementia could be very similar, their causes can allow the experts to differentiate between these two ailments.

While dementia is caused by rapid degeneration of brain cells, caused during old age, vascular dementia is usually caused due to a stroke or series of strokes that block the flow of blood to the brain cells, after which the brain cells begin to die, resulting in this disease.

Causes Of Vascular Dementia

As we read earlier, vascular dementia is caused by the lack of healthy blood supply to the brain cells, due to which the brain cells begin to degenerate rapidly.
Some of the causes of the blood supply to the brain to be cut off, causing vascular dementia are:

• Suffering from a stroke which blocks the artery in your brain and cuts off the blood supply to the brain cells.
• Damage to the nerves of the brain cells due to certain diseases, infections or injury
• Having diseases such as heart ailments, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc., which can cause the arteries in the brain to be blocked.
• Obesity
• Practising unhealthy lifestyle habits such as, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, consuming unhealthy foods, etc., which also inhibit blood flow to the brain.

Symptoms Of Vascular Dementia

The symptoms of vascular dementia can vary from person to person, depending on which part of their brain is impaired due to the lack of blood flow. Here are some common symptoms:

• Confusion
• Low attention span
• Lack of concentration
• Unable to analyse situations
• Unable to organise thoughts
• Lack of planning skills
• Reduced communication skills
• Memory impairment
• Restlessness and agitation
• Not being able to walk or move with normal balance
• Loss of control over urination and passing stools
• Depression and apathy

Prevention Of Vascular Dementia

If you want to prevent vascular dementia, then, you must make a conscious effort to keep diseases that can block the arteries, such as, high cholesterol, hypertension, heart diseases, obesity, etc., under control, by taking treatment.

In addition, a healthy lifestyle must be followed, by quitting smoking and frequent drinking, keeping the brain active, consuming healthy food and exercising on a regular basis.