Picture of Vascular (Multi-Infarct) Dementia 1

Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia, after Alzheimer's disease. It accounts for up to 20 % of all dementias and is caused by brain damage from cerebrovascular or cardiovascular problems - usually strokes. It also may result from genetic diseases, endocarditis (infection of a heart valve), or amyloid angiopathy (a process in which amyloid protein builds up in the brain's blood vessels, sometimes causing hemorrhagic or "bleeding" strokes). In many cases, it may coexist with Alzheimer's disease. Unlike people with Alzheimer's disease, people with vascular dementia often maintain their personality and normal levels of emotional responsiveness until the later stages of the disease. People with vascular dementia frequently wander at night and often have other problems commonly found in people who have had a stroke, including depression and incontinence.

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