Title: Vascular dementia: symptoms, progression, causes & support

Biography:

Paulan Gordon graduated from the University of Cincinnati Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. degree in Administrative Management.  She worked for several years for a major investment firm in the United States as Director of Operations.  When she was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia at age 57 (2012) she was forced to take a medical leave of absence.  Since then she has become a mentor to several other women with dementia and is now a member of the Advisory Board for Dementia Action Alliance as well as a member of the Board of Directors for Dementia Action Alliance.  Paulan now spends all her time educating and advocating for those living with dementia.           

Abstract

My speech opens with a review of symptoms of Vascular Dementia.  Then I compare the differences between Alzheimer’s and Vascular Dementia in terms of progression and causation and give brief explanations of precipitating factors for the progression of Alzheimer’s versus Vascular Dementia.  I also discuss the possibility that improper encoding causes the difficulties in memory retrieval.  I discuss the importance of developing a support system and highlight online memory cafes and mentoring programs as very positive influences. Dementiamentors.org is recommended as a source for both online memory cafes and mentoring programs.  Dementia Action Alliance or daanow.org is another educational and support organization that is highlighted. The importance of compensatory measures including items such as medication management and calendar management systems in addition to others are discussed.  I then offer a plea to recognize that all individuals living with dementia are not “end stage” and are still quite intelligent and capable of contributing much and should be included in any discussion of dementia.  Dementia Action Alliance has a Speakers Bureau and speakers are available at daanow.org.  I close with the mention of my book, Vascular Dementia – An inside Perspective available on Amazon.