Vascular Senile Dementia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vascular Senile Dementia - Research Paper Example When people hear these things, they automatically think of their hearts. The fact is, these are the very same problems that cause vascular dementia. Other things that can cause or contribute to vascular dementia are arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, TIA, atrial fibrillation, snoring, carotid bruits, alcoholism, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and smoking. Dementia means deprived mind and often includes a decline in memory, reasoning, thinking and mental functions. More than three million Americans now have dementia. The age of onset is usually 55-70 and the onset is usually quite abrupt. It often starts with paroxysmal deterioration of intellectual functions and this becomes clearly a succession of strokes and infarcts in the brain. There is often a fluctuation of mental status followed by generalized deterioration(Matteson, McConnell, & Linton pg. 1162). There may also be focal neurological signs such as asymmetrical reflexes, extensor plantar responses, limb weakness and focal signs like twitching plus a small step gate.