Is there any hope after a diagnosis of vascular dementia, or does it just keep getting worse?
Vascular dementia, which is a dementia caused by multiple small strokes or vascular changes in the brain, effects people differently. In some people, the disease will progress no matter what you do. Others will have great success with medications slowing down the disease.
The things that I can think of that may help vacular dementia: 1) Make sure the blood pressure is controlled, as this reduces the risk of stroke. 2) If the cholesterol is high, try to watch your diet and get exercise. If this is not helpful, statins can help, but this should be discussed with your health care provider. 3) Aspirin and other platelet medications can help reduce the risk of stroke. Again, the need for these medications should be discussed with your health care provider. 4) Dementia medications (Aricept, Exelon, Namenda to name a few) are currently being studied for vacular dementias, so I cannot really say someone should be on them without the evidence to back it up. However, I have seen in my practice that they may benefit certain people, so they may be worth a try.
Good luck!
