My Mother in law is currently having a psychiatric
assessment done in the local hospital, she has been
diagnosed with vascular dementia, although she has not had
any scans done to confirm the diagnosis. What I would like
to know is about the progression of her illness what can
we expect in the future ? Will the illness be like
Alzheimer's? will she continue to recognize us, and will
this result, in effect waiting for her to have a massive
stroke that will eventually kill her. I hope you can give
us more information than we currently have. Many thanks
and I look forward to your reply .
Of course, as you certainly
already know, I am not a physician, and the best resource
for specific information about your mother's medical future
is her doctor.
Vascular dementia is caused
when the brain is deprived of oxygen due to either a series
of small strokes called Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs) or
larger stroke(s). When the brain is deprived of oxygen, the
brain cells die. To the best of our knowledge right now they
cannot be regenerated, but sometimes the brain does find new
pathways on which information can travel.
Alzheimer's Disease and the related degenerative brain
disorders are progressive in nature. They usually progress
in a more or less slow downward path. Vascular dementia, on
the other hand, often tends to progress less smoothly. There
will often be periods where little seems to be changing, and
then there is a sharp decline when more damage occurs.
At present there is no treatment that will reverse any
damage that has already been done to the brain. However,
there are steps that can be taken to reduce the chance of
further damage. I would be surprised if her physician has
not prescribed medical measures to reduce the chances of
future strokes. There is no way to eliminate the
possibility, of course.
It is impossible to predict whether your mother-in-law will
retain her memory or her physical abilities, or whether she
will have another stroke that does further damage. If she
already has a history of "cerebral vascular accidents," then
of course her odds of having another are quite a bit higher.
For further reading Rutgers University has an excellent
overview of vascular dementia on their website
Memory Loss and the Brain. Two other good sites for
information about vascular dementia are the
Alzheimer's Society of Great Britain and the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
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