Memory loss after a stroke… Could it be dementia?[뇌졸중 극복하기]

[18편]
If multiple brain infarctions occur, the risk of vascular dementia increases.
High blood pressure can be prevented simply by controlling smoking and alcohol consumption.

Taejeong Kim, professor in the Department of Neurology and Critical Care Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital, who earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from Seoul National University School of Medicine, currently serves as as director of public relations at the Korean Stroke Association Hospital. Through the “Overcoming Stroke” series, we are actively promoting the fact that stroke is a treatable disease. Getty Images[서울대병원 신경과 김태정 교수] Stroke is a disease that occurs when a blood vessel in the brain becomes blocked or bursts. When a stroke occurs, after-effects such as limb paralysis, speech problems, and swallowing problems may persist. About 85% of all patients with cerebral infarction are discharged from hospital with sequelae, even if the condition is mild. So, does dementia occur more often after a stroke?

Where am I? I can barely remember

According to data from the Office for National Statistics 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 of a stroke and in more than 30% of people within a year of a stroke. 5 years of stroke…

There are several types of vascular dementia, including dementia caused by multiple cerebral infarcts, dementia caused by a single cerebral infarct occurring in strategic brain regions related to cognitive function, and dementia caused by subcortical small vessel disease. Simply put, this means that if the brain infarction occurs multiple times or if the brain infarction occurs in an area related to cognitive function, the risk of vascular dementia increases.

This risk increases as the severity of the stroke increases. Stroke patients are directly related to the onset of stroke, but it can also occur as asymptomatic stroke lesions or small vessel disease. For this reason, there are cases where patients come to the hospital due to cognitive decline and then related injuries are confirmed through brain imaging tests.

What are the symptoms of vascular dementia? Symptoms of vascular dementia can vary in type, severity, and when they appear depending on the location or degree of invasion of the cerebrovascular disease causing the stroke. The main symptoms include a decline in cognitive functions such as memory loss, language skills, decreased ability to grasp space and time, judgment and ability to carry out daily activities, as well as apathy, depression, anxiety, delusions, hallucinations, wandering, aggression, hypersensitivity to stimuli and anomalies. 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, hemiparesis, visual field disturbances, paralysis facial, speech disorders, swallowing disorders, gait disorders and stiffness of the limbs may occur, but they are also accompanied by abnormal symptoms and, in more serious cases, physical complications may appear such as incontinence of urine and feces, falls, bedsores , pneumonia and urinary tract infections. , Alzheimer’s dementia mainly shows recent memory deterioration in the early stages and progresses gradually, causing other problems in addition to memory decline. Deterioration of cognitive function and mental and behavioral symptoms become more frequent, and in later stages, physical symptoms such as stiffness, limb disturbances, gait disturbances 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 of other cognitive functions such as attention and concentration, frontal lobe function, language function, etc. it may be more obvious. and personality changes can be observed in the early stages. However, it is often difficult to distinguish between Alzheimer’s dementia and vascular dementia, and because many patients have different cerebrovascular risk factors as they age, they often develop mixed dementia with both types after several years.

Here’s 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 very important to prevent stroke as much as possible by controlling risk factors for stroke such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, smoking and alcohol. Because these risk factors can cause stroke or small vessel disease, the leading cause of vascular dementia, controlling these factors is ultimately important.

Additionally, when a stroke occurs, the more severe the stroke, the greater the risk of later developing dementia. Therefore, if you experience stroke symptoms, you need to go to the hospital as quickly as possible, receive ultra-acute treatment and minimize the consequences. .

Vascular dementia can be said to be a type of dementia whose risk of onset 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 hypertension, 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
#Memory #loss #stroke.. #dementia뇌졸중 #극복하기