Vascular Dementia

Vascular dementia is a form of dementia caused by brain damage resulting from restricted blood flow in the brain. It affects someone’s thinking skills: such as reasoning, planning, judgement and attention. Changes in skills and abilities are significant enough to interfere with daily social or work functioning. Often vascular damage occurs alongside Alzheimer’s disease or other brain disease.

Vascular dementia can be caused by:

• a single large stroke
• multiple strokes
• untreated high blood pressure or diabetes leading to vascular disease in the small blood vessels deep within the brain.

The location and size of brain damage determines which brain functions are affected.  Types of vascular dementia include strategic infarct dementia, multi-infarct dementia and subcortical vascular dementia.

Reference and further information: dementia.org.au