Vascular dementia

[Givemethesun]

Does anyone know much about this? The nhs seems to suggest it’s not as obvious as typical dementia traits you’d think of (ie obvious memory loss) but more slowness of thought, mood, even walking gait. Would really like to hear from people who have experience on whether this dementia can cause obvious forgetfulness/ memory problems or if harder to pinpoint. Thank you.

My dad had mixed dementia but the vascular was more prominent. He had more issues with motor skills than memory. He was diagnosed following a mri scan, he'd had a heart bypass and his personality changed.

We thought it was related to the bypass machine so we're shocked when it came back as mixed dementia.

He had started doing odd things, attempting to defrost a freezer section of a fridge with a tealight, walked across junctions without looking it was pretty scarey.

Hiya,

I work with people who have dementia, so I have a fair amount of experience. You're right that it can be a bit harder to predict. Like the name suggests, it's caused by problems with the blood vessels in the brain, usually causing tiny bleeds that cause small areas the brain to lose oxygen--so cells die.

The changes you observe largely depend on the area of the brain that becomes damaged. Short term memory is usually affected to at least some extent. Mobility and coordination can be affected. Mood changes are common, so a person might be more short tempered, quicker to cry or have trouble feeling motivated. It's quite common to lose words as well.

The Alzheimer's Society and Dementia UK both have good factsheets about it and Dementia Support Forum is full of people with similar experiences.

@Keepingittogetherstepbystep thank you for sharing. The person I am thinking about hasn’t got any obvious symptoms as such (no walking across roads etc) but definite mood and motor changes. Really hard to get him to a doctors for a health check… very stubborn!!
thanks again for sharing. Any insight is helpful :)

My dad has vascular dementia and memory slips were what first alerted us to something being wrong.

My Dad had Vascular Dementia. The 1st signs I noticed myself was he was getting short term confusion/memory loss. His driving was getting worse too, and journeys he once knew okay, he was starting to forget the way a bit. He had to use a walking stick, and eventually he was pushed around in a wheelchair. He had depression - well, noticeable mood swings where he was not his usual self. The worst thing was when he had any infections anywhere, because that made his confusion much worse. He became more angry/aggressive towards my Mum who was his main carer at home. He had hallucinations where he would see things that weren't reality on the hospital wards - like birds flying about, and pigs... I would say trust your gut instinct, if you think someone could have the condition.

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories really helpful. I think maybe it is not vascular dementia, but need to get him to the docs somehow regardless…..

My dad had it and had been a heavy smoker which I believe can trigger it. Motor skills were definitely off. He slept a lot too.

There are many ‘atypical’ dementias with all sorts of possible causes. Obviously parkinsons can affect gait and mood. But definitely it’s a better idea to try and get a gp to refer for assessment than to try and make your own diagnoses of something that can be so complicated. Describing the particular symptoms that you’ve noticed could be useful if he would let you accompany him.

Thank you@Stibble yes I’ve wondered about Parkinson too as although he doesn’t have the typical shaking he does have the gait walk and the mask face.

@Tinybigtanya my person sleeps a lot too. It’s a mess he has sooo many different symptoms/issues but nothing standing out as the obvious cause.

He gets by but he’s not living and my concern is he could have a condition where medicine might help alleviate some of the symptoms but without seeing a gp we don’t know. Really need to see the gp

ive booked gp apps and he cancels them :(

My dad had some strange symptoms, at first diagnosed as Parkinson's, but corrected to Lewy Body Dementia. His gait is affected, executive memory, functional skills, mood changes, speed of thought.

We had a doctor come out to him for assessment.

My Dad has mixed - vascular is the more prominent.

He knows what's going on but cannot verbalise replies. So it appears if you talk to him that he doesn't know the day of the week, or even where he lives. He does. But he cannot tell you. He tries - but fails and sounds confused.

It's affected his balance and gait and serious falls without, luckily, serious injury mean he needs more support and has chosen to live with us.

His motor skills are poor. We always eat at the table but tonight he wanted to watch the football so I gave him a TV dinner in bowl with a spoon. That failed. We agreed he'd have it at half time at the table.

I think it varies depending on the part of the brain impacted by the vascular incidents.

My Dad has "parkinsonisms " and the Dr wouldn't diagnose Parkinsons until all the other tests were completed. Once vascular dementia was diagnosed, she said these "parkinsonisms " will be as a result of that, not Parkinsons