VaD risk factors

Question 1

Risk factors

Answer 1

Same as for stroke/CVD

• Age (most important)
• Fam history
• Obesity/diabetes
• Lack of exercise
• Smoking
• Cholesterol
• Hypertension
  etc

Question 2

Genetic risk factors

Answer 2

There’s no clear genetic risk factors for VaD, but there are for CVD.

Exception; CADASIL, a hereditary form of VaD

Question 3

Overlap w other dementia’s

Answer 3

it commonly occurs that the pathology shows overlap w other dementias.

Mixed dementia is at least as common as pure VaD or AD

Up to 80% of AD patients also experienced a CVD (same goes for healthy elderly)

Question 4

Atherosclerorsis

Answer 4

A frequent cause of stroke;
- Build up of plaque inside arteriies
- Hardens and narrows the arteries
- Limits bloodflow to tissue
- Risk of rupture and embolic infarct

When it’s in small arteries its called atheriolosclerosis

Question 5

Differential difficulties

Answer 5

Because the most common form of VaD is small vessel strokes, the onset is insidious and gradual like in AD

Difficult to link CVD to cognitive deficits bc the strokes are silent

The brain areas that are affected influence the pattern of cognitive decline, in white matter/lacunar infarcts, this is mostly (frontal)subcortical whereas in AD its cortical