Neurological Disorder and Dementia

Vascular Dementia became an issue in aging in the late 19th century when Otto Binswanger and Alois Alzheimer identified vascular dementia as a separate form of neurological disorder, distinct from dementia paralytica. In the 1960s, researchers took another step forward via the clinical studies performed by the New Castle school in the UK: these trials lay the groundwork for modern understanding of vascular dementia. Today, vascular dementia is an issue in aging as physicians have discovered that the most typical vascular change accompanying aging is the increase of cholesterol found in the walls of blood vessels: this has a congestive effect that alters the cognitive ability of the patient. Confusion, disorientation, trouble speaking and vision loss are all symptoms related to this issue.

Influence of Demography

While Alzheimer's is the leading type of dementia in the world, vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia, accounting for 17% of the world's dementia cases. Vascular dementia mostly impacts elderly persons -- seniors over the age of 70 -- and worsens with time, as there is no cure for it. According to the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Cincinnati, "the incidence of vascular dementia is slightly higher among men than among women and appears typically in those between 60 to 75 years of age," though the likelihood of being impacted by vascular dementia rises significantly with increase in age. Among African-Americans and Asians, vascular dementia is even more common.

Contemporary Aspects

Vascular Dementia is an important issue in aging now because of the focus on quality of care that health care providers are striving to give to patients whose diseases have no cure. In the case of vascular dementia, quality of care can reduce symptoms, ease suffering and prevent occurrences of misfortune from escalating into painful episodes or increasingly difficult scenarios. With the right action plan, nurses and caregivers can help patients with vascular dementia and their families to cope effectively with the disease and live out the remainder of their lives with as much assistance and support as is possible.

Various types of care and treatment are available to patients as a result of contemporary focuses on new methodology. For example, Chinese medicine promotes the use of acupuncture as a form of treatment of vascular dementia, with research supported this technique for the relief of pain (Shi et al., 2014). Other studies have focused on the use of drugs for treatment, such as Apoliproprotein (Rohn et al., 2014), Fu Fang Dan Shen Pian tablets (Tian et al., 2016), and perlecan domain V (Marcelo, Bix, 2015).