The topic we are going to talk about this time is Dementia Awareness – specifically Vascular Dementia awareness. Dementia is a topic that you will see pop up in your studies with us, and there’s even a whole unit that covers Dementia so some of this information may be familiar to you.
Dementia is such a wide topic that affects so many people, and sometimes you need to bring awareness to make sure everyone is informed about just what it can do in a person’s life. Vascular Dementia in particular is a common type of dementia that can be caused by a myriad of different issues, so it’s important that everyone knows the signs and symptoms of it.
Overall, it is estimated that vascular dementia will affect around 150,000 people in the UK, making it the second most common form of dementia.
Around 17% of people diagnosed with dementia will have vascular dementia, and around 5-10% of those will have vascular dementia alone.
Some of the most common early signs and symptoms to look out for are:
- problems with planning or organising, making decisions or solving problems
- difficulties following a series of steps (e.g. cooking a meal)
- slower speed of thought
- problems concentrating, including short periods of sudden confusion.
If someone is also in the early stages of vascular dementia, they may have troubles with memory (such as recalling recent events), language (speech difficulties and they may become less fluent in their language), and visual skills (such as perceiving objects).
It’s important to know the signs and symptoms, so you can keep an eye out for them in friends and family. Generally vascular dementia is caused by conditions, usually blood clots, that block or reduce the blood flow to different areas of the brain and so deprive them of the oxygen that is needed. That is why some people may think that these symptoms are caused by strokes as strokes can cause problems with memory too – but if symptoms persist you should always get checked by a doctor.
If you, or anyone you know needs more information on Vascular Dementia the following links will help you:
https://www.stroke.org.uk/effects-of-stroke/vascular-dementia
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vascular-dementia/
Dementia could affect anyone – but keeping aware of the signs and symptoms is the first step to helping those affected by it.
