CURRENT VIEWS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC CEREBRAL ISCHAEMIA

Chronic cerebral ischaemia (CCI) is a condition in which cerebral blood flow becomes inadequate due to vessel usurations, narrowings or blockages, resulting in a chronic deficiency of oxygen and nutrients to brain cells. This condition is often also referred to as dyscirculatory encephalopathy (DE) or vascular dementia. Chronic cerebral ischaemia can be caused by atherosclerosis (deposition of fatty plaques in blood vessels), thrombosis (formation of blood clots in blood vessels), embolism (sudden blockage of a vessel by a clot or blood particle from elsewhere in the body) or other circulatory disorders. The risk of developing chronic cerebral ischaemia increases with age and in the presence of risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia and insufficient physical active lifestyle.