Definition, Types and Symptoms of Multi Infarct Vascular Dementia

Multi-infarct vascular dementia is a viscious, unrelentless enemy.

As some of you may be aware, my mother suffers from advanced vascular dementia which is of the multiple infarct dementia type (thousands of mini strokes/transient ischemic attacks or TIA's as they are sometimes called).

Mum's vascular dementia was of the clot type - that is, a clot forms and clogs a blood vessel, thereby preventing cells from getting oxygen and nutrients, hence cells die. The other type of vascular dementia is of the bleeding type - a blood vessel raptures, causing a loss of blood flow to some cells, which then die.

It's important to make this distinction between these two types of vascular dementia, as in the clot type vascular dementia, one want's to thin the blood, as with half an aspirin daily, to help prevent the clots forming or doing damage. With the bleeding type vascular dementia, we want to strengthen blood vessel walls and minimise bleeding when a rapture occurs, so that more blood remains flowing in the blood vessels.

If one was to thin the blood for a bleeder type vascular dementia, it would likely cause the vascular dementia to accelerate much faster, whereas, if the same were done for a clot type vascular dementia, the vascular dementia would likely be expected to be slowed down.

The symptoms of multi-infarct vascular dementia can vary greatly from one sufferer to the next. For example, my mum was able to recall who we, her children were, well into it's advanced stages. My Aunty Myrtle, on the other hand, went more and more back into the memories of her childhood and soon lost the ability to recall who her children were and sometimes confused them with other people from her early past.

The rate of onslaught of, or deterioration from the multi-infarct vascular dementia can vary greatly from between people as well. Mum's vascular dementia slowly reaked it's destruction over many year, while Myrtle, who came down with it much later than mum, has died following the multi-infarct's much more rapid onslaught on her. Some dementia sufferers only last a few months when placed into a dementia facility - even though their dementia may not be as far advanced as others, they just seem to lose the will to live and die soon after, no matter how homely and nice and friendly the facility may be. I think it's perhaps more the separation from loved ones and carers, the change in the physical environment, that causes some dementia sufferers to just give up and die. Lets face it though, for many of those with vascular dementia or Alzheimer's Disease, there will normally come a time when the needs of the dementia sufferer exceed the abilities and or endurance of their carer to look after them.

Any way, after about 5 or 6 years, the multi-infarct vascular dementia has caused mum to become bed ridden, unable to chew, nor talk (except perhaps for yea), nor walk.

Source: www.alzheimersdementia.cdadc.com/vasculardementia.html