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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffVascular dementia results from conditions that damage your brain's blood vessels, reducing their ability to supply your brain with the large amounts of nutrition and oxygen it needs to perform thought processes effectively.
Common conditions that may lead to vascular dementia include:
- Stroke (infarction) blocking a brain artery. Strokes that block a brain artery usually cause a range of symptoms that may include vascular dementia. But some strokes don't cause any noticeable symptoms. These "silent brain infarctions" still increase dementia risk. With both silent and apparent strokes, the risk of vascular dementia increases with the number of infarctions that occur over time. One type of vascular dementia involving many strokes is called multi-infarct dementia.
- Narrowed or chronically damaged brain blood vessels. Conditions that narrow or inflict long-term damage on your brain blood vessels can also lead to vascular dementia. These conditions include the wear and tear associated with aging; high blood pressure; hardening of the arteries; diabetes; lupus erythematosus; brain hemorrhage; and temporal arteritis.
References
- Dementia: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/dementias/detail_dementia.htm. Accessed March 6, 2011.
- Middleton LE, et al. Promising strategies for prevention of dementia. Archives of Neurology. 2009;66:1210.
- Rockwood K, et al. The inclusion of cognition in vascular risk factor clinical practice guidelines. Clinical Interventions in Aging. 2009;4:425.
- Vascular dementia. Alzheimer's Association. http://www.alz.org/professionals_and_researchers_13517.asp. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Mixed dementia. Alzheimer's Association. http://www.alz.org/professionals_and_researchers_13516.asp. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Wright CB. Etiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis of vascular dementia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 15, 2011.
- Wright CB. Treatment and prevention of vascular dementia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 15, 2011.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed March 9, 2011.
- Carotid ultrasound. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cu/cu_all.html. Accessed March 9, 2011.
- Aricept: Highlights of prescribing information. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2010/022568s004,020690s033,021720s006lbl.pdf. Accessed March 9, 2011.
- Medications for memory loss. Alzheimer's Association. http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_standard_prescriptions.asp. Accessed March 9, 2011.
- Caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease. National Institute on Aging. http://www.nia.nih.gov/NR/rdonlyres/E0F45395-A473-4B26-8F7E-86F4314405CE/0/CaringGuide.pdf. Accessed March 9, 2011.
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