DVT & Alzheimer's is there a link?

Trixxie

Registered User
Oct 3, 2014
51
0
Midsomer Norton near Bath
My hubby is 55 and last year was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He is still working and is therefore very mobile so doesn't come into the usual category of why you get a DVT and yet he has just suffered his third deep vein thrombosis and I ask myself I wonder if there is a link? Now it's over to you to help me! Thankyou in anticipation!


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nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,081
0
Bury
I've never heard of any suggestion of a link between DVTs and Alzheimers.

There could well be a link between DVTs and vascular dementia.

Precise diagnosis of the type of dementia is difficult especially in the early stages.

Vascular dementia is somewhat of an exception and can sometimes be diagnosed by brain scans. What scans, if any, has he had?

To make diagnosis more difficult several people have mixed dementia.

Also 'Alzheimers' is sometimes used as a blanket expression for any dementia, although this use appears to be coming less common.
 

Slugsta

Registered User
Aug 25, 2015
2,758
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South coast of England
I would agree with Nitram that there is certainly an association between vascular dementia and DVTs, rather than Alzheimer's itself. I also agree with the comments about diagnosis and mixed dementia.
 

maryw

Registered User
Nov 16, 2008
3,809
0
Surrey
My hubby has had a DVT, which did evolve into a huge pulmonary embolism (stupid docs just kept giving him cream and I noticed he was increasingly breathless so phoned local hospital and he was rushed into majors). He has also had multiple subcortical strokes and a heart attack, all probably as a result of narrowing of the cerebral blood vessels. If oxygen isn't getting carried around the body, it's bound to have an effect isn't it?
 

Saffie

Registered User
Mar 26, 2011
22,513
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Near Southampton
It's more likely to be artery problems that are linked to vascular dementia rather than venous as it's the lack of oxygen to the brain and it's the arteries that carry it.

I have never heard of DVT leading to dementia. I hope not anyway as I had one last year and they are not at all uncommon.
 

Brannybob

Registered User
Jun 20, 2013
24
0
UK
Hi Trixxie,
My hubby was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at 53, he had multiple DVTs in his L Leg, there was no reason why he should have developed these, I always wondered if there was a link.
 

Trixxie

Registered User
Oct 3, 2014
51
0
Midsomer Norton near Bath
Thank you everyone for your comments, my hubby has had two brain scans one was a SPECT scan and the other one a MRI scan, The diagnosis we were given is that he has early onset Alzheimer's. I have looked on the Internet and there doesn't seem to be any link but I just wondered if anyone else had the same problems we are having at the moment.


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Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,064
0
Salford
Hi Trixxie
There's been a lot of threads like this where someone has another aliment and want to know if there's a connection. Generally those in the same position post that it's happened to them too, where those it hasn't happened to stay quiet.
As you've found out there is no established or even suspected link between the 2 diseases and no good reason to think there should be.
According to NHS choices:
Each year, 1 in every 1,000 people in the UK is affected by DVT.
Anyone can develop DVT, but it becomes more common with age. As well as age, risk factors include:
•previous venous thromboembolism
•a family history of blood clots
•medical conditions such as cancer and heart failure
•inactivity – for example, after an operation
•being overweight or obese
those are the recognised common causes although it can happen to anyone for no apparent reason, all you can really do is keep your weight down and keep moving.
K
 

Janis17656haris

Registered User
Jan 14, 2015
3
0
Thatcham, Berkshire
Our mother has Alzheimer's and a care team in Kent have decided to do a scan for DVT she is bed bound and immobile plus incontinent. May well give her an injection to help but we have a DNR in place this is no way to continue a persons life if the quality is so ****. She doesn't speak, doesn't eat and hardly drinks cannot swallow properly so giving her medication wont help it will delay the inevitable! What can we do