Vascular dementia symptoms are most easy to identify when they occur immediately following a stroke. When someone’s cognitive decline is severe enough that it could impair them from understanding the impacts of their decisions, they may no longer be able to sign important legal documents, such as a power of attorney.
What is Vascular Dementia?
Vascular dementia is used to describe problems with memory, planning, reasoning, thought processes and judgment as a result of restricted blood flow to the brain. It can occur from conditions associated with reduced circulation and damaged blood vessels. Those same risk factors that influence the possibility of stroke and heart disease, such as high cholesterol, smoking and high blood pressure can also increase someone’s vascular dementia risk.
What Are the Symptoms of Vascular Dementia?
The most common symptoms of include slowed thinking, confusion, difficulty with organization and an unsteady gait. It can be extremely important to get the right care for someone who is exhibiting these early symptoms. It is also critical to review all of their estate planning documents to ensure that their wishes have been clearly outlined and that the right people have been appointed to serve in key roles.
Hire an Experienced Elder Law Attorney
The more that someone’s condition advances, the easier it is for an outside party to allege that they were not in the right state of mind to sign or understand those documents. Hiring an experienced Massachusetts elder law attorney is one of the easiest ways to make sure that you have covered all of your bases well in advance of any medical diagnosis that could impair your cognitive ability.
