Last week, USA Today ran this interesting piece on vascular dementia. Also called multi-infarct dementia, vascular dementia is caused by multiple strokes that disrupt blood flow to the brain, leading to damaged tissue. The symptoms are very similar to those of Alzheimer's disease, and the two types of dementia often occur together.
Although the USA Today piece focused on a woman in her 30s, vascular dementia usually begins between the ages of 60 and 75. And since it's the second leading cause of dementia in the US (after Alzheimer's), I thought I'd list some blogs and resources especially for those of you caring for people with vascular dementia:
- In his memoir Dementia Diary: A Caregiver's Journal, Bob Tell writes about his mother's 16-year decline into what he calls "the opaque fog of dementia." Check out Bob's blog for more about vascular dementia and his experiences caring for his mother.
- Another blog I like is Susan Lanza's The Dementia Caregiver's Toolbox, which offers information and resources for caregivers of people with dementia.
- You can find out more about vascular dementia on the websites of The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and The Alzheimer's Association.
What are some of your favorite resources and blogs on vascular dementia? Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for other caregivers? I'd love to hear from you.
Image by Flickr user Image Editor used under the Creative Commons attribution license.
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