DEMENTIA! Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis and More
Mixed dementia means that a person has Alzheimer’s and cerebrovascular dementia. Sometimes people may also use the term more broadly to refer to any condition in which a person has two or more types of dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease is the
Identifying the type of dementia a person has
Read on to learn more about mixed dementia.
What is mixed dementia?
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Dementia is a category of conditions that affect
trusted Source cognitive functioning. Dementia has many forms, including:
- frontotemporal dementia
- Lewy body dementia
- Alzheimer’s disease
- vascular dementia
Mixed dementia occurs when a person has more than one type of dementia at the same time. In most cases, doctors and researchersTrusted Source use the term “mixed dementia” to refer to the combination of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.
Symptoms of mixed dementia
It is not possible to determine which type of dementia a person has based on symptoms alone. Dementia affects many aspects of brain function and tends to be progressiveTrusted Source, affecting more aspects of memory, cognition, and self-care abilities over time. Different types of dementia may look more similar as they get worse.
Symptoms to look for include:
changes in personality or mood
memory problems, including short-term memory
Trusted Source difficulties in the early days of symptoms
behavior changes
difficulty with daily tasks such as driving and navigating the world
trouble with self-care
changes in speech, such as severe difficulty finding the right words
A doctor may suspect mixed dementia if imaging scans show changes in the brain that are consistent with multiple forms of dementia.
The symptoms of some other diseases can mimic those of dementia, so a person should not assume that any memory loss or change in the ability to think is a result of dementia.
Causes and risk factors
Mixed dementia is a multifactorial disease, which means that many causes and risk factors contribute to its development. Researchers have not identified Trusted the Source as a specific cause.
The main risk factors include trusted Sources:
advancing age
cerebrovascular disease such as atherosclerosis
history of stroke
Down syndrome, which is a trusted Source of a risk factor for early Alzheimer’s disease
family history of dementia
traumatic head injury
history of cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure
Mixed dementia diagnosis
There is no gold standardTrusted Source for diagnosing mixed dementia. In general, a person must have symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and symptoms of cardiovascular disease.
A combination of tests, such as the following, can help a doctor determine which type of dementia a person has:
cognitive function testing
brain imaging scans
tests that detect and monitor for cardiovascular disease
other medical tests
In some cases, a doctor may do testing to rule out other causes, such an infection or a head injury.
Learn more about cognitive tests that can aid in diagnosis.
Treatment
There is no cure for any form of dementia, including mixed dementia.
Treatments — especially drugs for Alzheimer’s disease — may help slowTrusted Source the progression of the disease. They may also offer modest but temporary improvements in cognitive functioning. Several drugs are available, and the right drug for each person depends on factors such as:
the person’s health status
the severity of symptoms
the person’s treatment preferences
Additionally, a person may need to take medications to manage vascular disease, such as blood pressure drugs or cholesterol-lowering drugs. These drugs can slow the progression of vascular disease and help lower the risk of stroke and heart attack.
Other medications to manage symptoms and supportive care can also help. For example, a person with severe memory loss may need to live in a supportive environment or need daily support with self-care tasks.
Learn more about aducanumab, a new drug for dementia.
Outlook
Dementia is a progressive trusted Source disease that steadily erodes brain function. This can eventually affect all aspects of functioning, including bladder and bowel control, basic self-care, and life-sustaining functions such as breathing.
Mixed dementia is also progressive, becoming worse over time. However, medications that help manage the vascular disease can slowTrusted Source the progression and prevent additional complications.
Learn more about the outlook for Alzheimer’s disease.
What is the life expectancy with mixed dementia?
Like other forms of dementia, mixed dementia is a terminal illnessTrusted Source.
People with mixed dementia typically have trusted Sources for other medical conditions as well, such as cardiovascular disease. Because they may die either from dementia or from these other conditions, they have a shorter overall life expectancy than people without these conditions.
A 2018 Norwegian study by Trusted Source found that, on average, mixed dementia takes 10 years off a person’s life.
FAQs
Below are some commonly asked questions on the topic:
What is the most common mixed dementia?
The term “mixed dementia” typically means that trusted Source a person has vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, so that is the most common type of mixed dementia.
However, some people apply this term to people who have multiple types of dementia or develop a second form of dementia after receiving a diagnosis of one type.
Is mixed dementia hereditary?
Researchers have not identified a single gene or combination of genes that causes dementia. However, having an immediate family member with Alzheimer’s disease is a significant risk factorTrusted Source.
Vascular dementia, the second component of mixed dementia, develops from trusted Source cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle and genetics together play a role in the development of vascular disease.
Does mixed dementia progress quickly?
Survival is shorterTrusted Source in mixed dementia than in most other types of dementia. This is because a person has not only dementia but also an underlying cardiovascular disease that may kill or injure them.
However, dementia is an unpredictable illness, and there is no way to predict how an individual’s condition will progress.
Summary
Mixed dementia occurs when more than one form of dementia causes a person’s symptoms. In most cases, doctors use this term to refer to a combination of cerebrovascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, though they may less commonly use it to refer to other combinations of dementia types.
People with mixed dementia need medical care to get the right diagnosis and to explore treatment options. A person who has memory loss, personality changes, or other changes in their abilities or cognition should consult a doctor.
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