What is Vascular Dementia?

Vascular dementia is a common type of dementia caused by reduced blood flow to the brain. It’s estimated to affect around 150,000 people in the UK. About 5% to 10% of people with dementia have vascular dementia alone.

Symptoms

Vascular dementia can start suddenly or begin slowly over time.

Symptoms include:

• slowness of thought
• difficulty with planning and understanding
• problems with concentration
• changes to your mood, personality or behaviour
• feeling disoriented and confused
• difficulty walking and keeping balance
• symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, such as problems with memory and language (many people with vascular dementia also have Alzheimer’s disease)

These problems can make daily activities increasingly difficult and someone with the condition may eventually be unable to look after themselves.

Tests

The tests that are needed to make a diagnosis include:

• an assessment of symptoms – for example, whether these are typical symptoms of vascular dementia
• a full medical history, including asking about a history of conditions related to vascular dementia, such as strokes or high blood pressure
• an assessment of mental abilities – this will usually involve several tasks and questions
• a brain scan, such as an MRI scan or CT scan, to look for any changes that have happened in your brain

Find out more about the tests used to diagnose dementia.

Treatments

There’s currently no cure for vascular dementia and there’s no way to reverse any loss of brain cells that happened before the condition was diagnosed.

But treatment can sometimes help slow down vascular dementia.

Treatment aims to tackle the underlying cause, which may reduce the speed at which brain cells are lost.

This will often involve:

• eating a healthy, balanced diet
• losing weight if you’re overweight
• stopping smoking
• getting fit
• cutting down on alcohol
• taking medicines, such as those used to treat high blood pressure, lower cholesterol or prevent blood clots

Other treatments, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dementia activities (such as memory cafes) and psychological therapies, can help reduce the impact of any existing problems.

How can Cavendish Homecare help?

At Cavendish Homecare we can help support you and your loved ones with our expertise in delivering Dementia care at home. We know that living with Dementia can have a huge emotional, social, and psychological effect on both the person and their loved ones. We believe that allowing people to remain in their own homes is beneficial to keeping them in a familiar environment and reducing stressful situations which may arise in other settings.

Contact Cavendish Homecare

Speak to a member of the team today