Despite what many people think, dementia isn’t a normal part of getting older.
Forgetfulness, yes. Difficulty remembering names and dates, yes. But this is not the same thing.
There are risk factors other than age that place you more directly in the path of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Some are not under your control, but many are.
What Is Vascular Dementia?
Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s. However, its causes and risk factors are different from Alzheimer’s Disease; its symptoms show up in a different order… and it’s much more under our control.
Signs and Symptoms of Vascular Dementia
Symptoms of vascular dementia can vary, depending upon which part or parts of the brain have been damaged due to a lack of blood flow. Those symptoms can include:
- Confusion
- Trouble with attention and concentration
- Reduced ability to organize thoughts and plan actions
- Restlessness and agitation
- Unsteady gait
- Depression or apathy
- Memory problems
In its earliest stages, vascular dementia typically does not involve declining memory, as does Alzheimer’s. Instead, a person will exhibit the other symptoms listed above before memory impairment becomes problematic.
Are You at Risk for Vascular Dementia?
Any condition that damages your brain’s blood vessels and reduces its ability to supply your brain with the nutrition and oxygen it needs is a risk factor for vascular dementia.
A stroke, of course, would do this if it blocks a brain artery. But multiple “silent” strokes (with no apparent symptoms) raise your risk of dementia.
Health Conditions That Raise Your Risk
1. Heart Disease
Plaque buildup in the arteries surrounding your heart is a significant cause of heart disease. This can slow blood flow to your brain as well. Also, many of the things that cause heart diseases, like smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, are risk factors for dementia.
2. Diabetes
Doctors aren’t yet sure why so many people with diabetes go on to develop dementia, and research is ongoing. Blood vessel damage is one of the complications of diabetes. Therefore, diabetes, primarily type 2 diabetes, is considered a risk factor for vascular dementia.
3. High Cholesterol
High cholesterol levels in middle age are linked to obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes, risk factors for vascular dementia. However, it’s unclear whether high cholesterol itself puts you at risk for dementia later in life.
4. High Blood Pressure
Undetected and untreated high blood pressure damages your blood vessels and increases your stroke risk.
5. Head Injury
One fall may not make you more susceptible to dementia. But repeated injuries will.
If you hit your head and experience blurry vision, confusion, dizziness, or sensitivity to light, you are likely to have a concussion and should seek medical help immediately.
How to Maintain Healthy Blood Pressure and Brain Health
5 Tips to Reduce Dementia Risk
- Control stress in your life. Stress raises homocysteine levels, which increases the risk of dementia.
- Eat a healthy diet – watch your sodium intake, avoid processed, packaged food, and stick to a brain-healthy and heart-healthy diet, like the Mediterranean or MIND diet.
- Develop a consistent exercise program, even if it’s just walking, and stick to it! High-Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, is a form of exercise that increases blood flow to the brain.
- Don’t smoke! It damages your blood vessels and increases your stroke risk. If you are a smoker, quit!
Common Medications That May Increase Dementia Risk
If it’s not shocking enough that dementia kills more people than breast and prostate cancer combined, how about this?
You may be taking a common medication that increases your risk of developing dementia by as much as 54 percent!
To date, a few studies have included several medications in the dementia-causing spotlight. You may want to take this list and look in your medicine cabinet.
Oxybutynin for Bladder Control
In the past five years, these bladder antimuscarinic drugs, prescribed for the treatment of urinary incontinence, have increased in usage by 31 percent.
Researchers discovered that those taking Oxybutynin for more than three years had a significantly increased risk of dementia.
Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) for Allergies and Colds
Reaching for those antihistamines to address your seasonal allergies — sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, hives, skin rash, itching, and other cold symptoms — may have seemed like a good idea before now. However, this commonly used medication is in the same class as all those listed here and may increase your dementia risk.
Tricyclic Antidepressants
Some popular medications in this group include:
- Amitriptyline (Elavil, Endep)
- Clomipramine (Anafranil)
- Imipramine (Tofranil)
- Trimipramine (Surmontil)
- Doxepin (Sinequan, Adapin)
Taking antidepressants may be helpful for those with severe clinical depression. However, there are other alternatives to tricyclic antidepressants. And since these have been shown to increase the risk of dementia, discussing options with your physician is a great idea.
Doxepin Hydrochloride (Silenor) for Insomnia
If you have trouble staying asleep, your physician may prescribe doxepin hydrochloride. But if you’re a regular user of a dosage of around 10 mg per day and continue to do that for three years, your risk of dementia can skyrocket.
Can Red Light Therapy Help Prevent Dementia?
The health benefits of Red Light Therapy (RLT) are growing more prominent thanks to the research backing up its wonders!
Recently, many scientists started testing RLT on different brain parts, reporting the results as significant and essential.
How Red Light Therapy Supports Brain Health
Red Light Therapy increases blood flow in the brain, which can be seen on MRI scans. The benefit that RLT is the most famous for is the effect it has on mitochondria, which is considered the “powerhouse of the cells,” being responsible for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. ATP is the primary energy carrier in all living organisms on Earth. RLT penetrates the skull to reach the brain cells and boosts the mitochondria for elevated ATP production, allowing your brain to achieve its best state!
Using RLT allows the brain to absorb light and assists in the healing of damaged brain cells.
Benefits of Red Light Therapy on the Brain
Red Light Therapy starts by stimulating your mitochondrial activity throughout the light absorption, enhancing the cell functions and the ability to regenerate, heal, and protect them! Red Light Therapy boosts ATP production, lowers inflammation and oxidative stress, and improves cellular functioning, building up your brain’s strength!
So, if you are focused on your brain’s health and want to heal, regenerate, prevent, and protect your brain cells, red light therapy might be the friend you need!
