Today I’m going to talk about vascular dementia and how it is like traffic, roads and cars! 

In my last post and video I talked about Alzheimer’s disease and how it is caused. 

We know plaque builds up around teeth and causes decay and with Alzheimer’s plaque builds up around the brain cells and also tangles are formed inside brain cells. 

Christie commented on yesterday’s video and asked me to talk a little about vascular dementia, another common dementia. 

I’m going to talk briefly about how vascular dementia is caused… 

Vascular dementia is a different dementia to Alzheimer’s and so has different causes and different symptoms.  

The best way to think about vascular dementia is to think of car roads, cars and traffic. 

Roads often become blocked, nothing can pass and this causes a reduced flow of the traffic and cars. 

The same happens with vascular dementia, small blood vessels inside the brain narrow and become blocked which causes a reduced flow of blood to the brain, this can damage and kill brain cells. 

On a road crashes can cause blockages in the road and a reduced flow of traffic. Again it’s the same with vascular dementia… a stroke or a mini stroke is like a crash… it causes damage to the blood supply and reduces or stops the flow of blood to the brain. 

I know this sounds bad, it sounds terrible, but it is possible to live well with dementia. With understanding, positivity and support from family members or from home carers or live in carers people can live very well with dementia and with vascular dementia.

Who do you know that may benefit from being connected to me? Let them know about this post and the video and about CareChooser.

I shall see you next time… next week I’m going to be doing an question and answer session. A Q&A… drop me a question about dementia, a different condition… diabetes, arthritis, about home care or carers or a question to do with supporting a loved one and I’ll answer it on the next live… Have a think, leave me a question, either on Facebook or pop a question below in the live chat and look out for next week’s video and post.

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Recap of the key messages from the previous posts & videos:

Alzheimer’s disease is caused by the build up of proteins or plaque (amyloid) around the brain cells and (tau) tangles inside brain cells.

Dementia DOESN’T affect the part of the brain (amygdala) that controls EMOTIONS and FEELINGS as much as factual information.

Dementia is not just about losing your memory (it effects other functions too… )

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Christopher “Picks Star Carers” Downie

P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 5 ways I can help improve the wellbeing of your elderly parents/spouse:
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1. Grab a free copy of my e-book; 3 quick tips to beat falls and confusion. It’s a road map to wellbeing - a 20 second read... We asked the GP on our team; Malcolm for his 3 top tips. — Click Here (https://www.carechooser.com#homecare-falls) Look for the gold banner.

2. Join CareChooser’s Facebook page and connect with us. It’s our new Facebook community where you can follow and learn from us. — Click Here (https://www.facebook.com/CareChooser)
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3. If you’d like us to improve the wellbeing of your parents/spouse and have us find you a consistent carer send me a message at bit.ly/christopherdownie with the words “Carer”. Tell me a little about your parents/spouse, we’ll check availability in your area, send profiles and arrange a meeting.

4. Join us and be a Case Study I’m putting together a new case study at CareChooser... stay tuned for details. If you’d like to work with me on improving the wellbeing of your parents/spouse and learn the secrets to getting the most from a carer... just send me a message atbit.ly/christopherdownie with the words “Case Study”.

5. Work with me and my team privately.
If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take you from stressed to wellbeing and have us find a bespoke carer matched uniquely for your family just send me a message at bit.ly/christopherdownie with the word “Private”... tell me a little about your parents/spouse and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details!