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If multiple cerebral infarctions occur, the risk of vascular dementia increases.
High blood pressure can be prevented simply by controlling smoking and drinking.
Taejeong Kim, a professor in the Department of Neurology and Critical Care Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital, who received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctoral degree from Seoul National University School of Medicine, is currently serving as the public relations director at the Korean Stroke Association. Through the series ‘Overcoming Stroke’, we are actively promoting that stroke is a treatable disease. Getty Images[서울대병원 신경과 김태정 교수] Stroke is a disease that occurs when a cerebral blood vessel becomes blocked or burst. When a stroke occurs, after-effects such as paralysis of limbs, speech problems, and swallowing problems may remain. Approximately 85% of all cerebral infarction patients are discharged from the hospital with aftereffects, even if the condition is mild. So, does dementia occur more often after a stroke?
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According to data from the National Statistical Office in 2020, Alzheimer’s dementia accounts for more than 75% of all dementia patients, but vascular dementia patients account for the next 10%. Although the difference in rates is large, vascular dementia ranks second among all dementias. Stroke is directly related to vascular dementia. After a stroke, vascular dementia can occur depending on the location or degree of involvement of the stroke. It is known that vascular dementia can occur in less than 10% of people within a year after a stroke, and in more than 30% of people within 5 years of a stroke. .
There are several types of vascular dementia, including dementia caused by multiple cerebral infarctions, dementia caused by a single cerebral infarction occurring in strategic brain regions related to cognitive function, and dementia caused by subcortical small vessel disease. Simply put, this means that if cerebral infarction occurs multiple times or if cerebral infarction occurs in an area related to cognitive function, the risk of vascular dementia increases.
This risk increases as the severity of stroke increases. Stroke patients are directly related to the occurrence of stroke, but it can also occur as asymptomatic stroke lesions or small vessel disease. For this reason, there are cases where patients visit hospitals due to cognitive decline and then have related lesions confirmed through brain imaging tests.
What are the symptoms of vascular dementia? Symptoms of vascular dementia may vary in type, severity, and timing of symptom occurrence depending on the location or degree of invasion of the cerebral blood vessel causing the stroke. The main symptoms include cognitive decline, such as memory loss, language ability, decreased ability to grasp space and time, judgment, and ability to perform daily activities, as well as apathy, depression, anxiety, delusions, hallucinations, wandering, aggression, hypersensitivity to stimuli, and abnormalities. Psychological and behavioral symptoms such as behavioral and dietary changes and sleep disturbances may also appear. Kim Tae-jeong, Professor, Department of Neurology and Critical Care Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital If dementia symptoms have occurred after a stroke, various stroke-related neurological symptoms such as hemiparesis, hemiparesthesia, visual disturbance, facial paralysis, speech impairment, swallowing impairment, gait disturbance, and limb stiffness may occur. Abnormal symptoms are also accompanied, and in severe cases, physical complications such as fecal and urinary incontinence, falls, bedsores, pneumonia, and urinary tract infections may appear. When looking at Alzheimer’s dementia, Alzheimer’s dementia mainly appears with recent memory impairment in the early stages, and gradually progresses, causing other problems in addition to memory decline. Deterioration of cognitive function and mental and behavioral symptoms become more frequent, and in the later stages, physical symptoms such as stiff limbs, gait disorders, and incontinence appear, showing a relatively consistent progression pattern. On the other hand, in vascular dementia, compared to the level of memory decline, which is a symptom of cognitive decline, the decline in other cognitive functions such as attention and concentration, frontal lobe function, language function, etc. may be more noticeable, and personality changes may be seen in the early stages. However, it is often difficult to distinguish between Alzheimer’s dementia and vascular dementia, and as many patients have various cerebrovascular risk factors as they age, they often develop mixed dementia with both types after several years.
This is how to prevent vascular dementia
So, is there a way to prevent vascular dementia? The most important thing is to prevent stroke, which is an important cause of vascular dementia. It is most important to prevent stroke as much as possible by controlling risk factors for stroke such as high blood pressure, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, smoking, and drinking. Because these risk factors can cause stroke or small vessel disease, the main cause of vascular dementia, controlling these factors is ultimately important.
In addition, when a stroke occurs, the more severe the stroke, the higher the risk of developing dementia later, so if stroke symptoms occur, you must visit the hospital as quickly as possible, receive ultra-acute treatment, and minimize the aftereffects.
Vascular dementia can be said to be a type of dementia whose risk of occurrence can be reduced by controlling vascular risk factors as much as possible. Therefore, if you know that you have risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, etc., you must actively control them and receive consistent management to prevent stroke and vascular dementia at the same time.
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2023-12-30 04:33:33
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