Chronic Microvascular Ischemic Disease

I know that this must be very scary for you. I also had the same diagnosis. Unfortunately, there is no treatment yet and it is progressive. All you can do is make lifestyle changes to keep it at bay as long as possible by staying physically active and stop smoking if you do smoke. I also do many types of challenging mental puzzles and exercises to try to keep my mind sharp. I also recommend that you take care of your mental health to reduce depression or anxiety which can go hand in hand with such a diagnosis (whether this means cognitive behavior therapy and/or meds.

It might be helpful to see a cardiologist if you haven't already. The same mechanism that is blocking your cerebral vessels is the root cause for cardiovascular disease. A relatively inexpensive (usually less than $100) to check the level of calcified plaque (CAC) in your heart arteries can be done without a doctor's prescription necessary. You may be able to head off other problems since at least this is treatable.

Finally, please don't hesitate to seek immediate medical care when you have any additional stroke symptoms since time can be your worst enemy. Even a minor TIA (which I have also had) can be a precursor to a more severe stroke. Also, don't be surprised if a brain MRI shows lacunar strokes which are caused by small vessels deep in the brain being blocked as well. Many times these are "silent" strokes and are asymptomatic, but are still part of the overall problem that we both are experiencing.

Good luck! Hopefully we can both delay and major impacts and enjoy life to whatever extent possible! Please feel free to reach out of you have any questions and I'll be glad to share my experiences and the knowledge that I have acquired since I have a head start on you.

Thanks Keith, I'm just a little upset right now cause they seen this 10yrs ago and now it has gotten a little worse. I'm having weakness and dumbness, memory loss and forgetting. My new Neuro said I had several small stokes which he show me from the mri image he stop counting after 5 area of my brain. I will not give up and do what ever i have to do and make sure I take all my meds but I do have CHF with SVT. I just turn 50

Atrophy of the brain at 40 at 50 small vessel ischemic brain disease & now at 54 servere cerebrovascular brain disease alongside sub arachnoid cyst...have an idea of what your going through...statins given but had a reaction & had to stop them .. were quite young to have such issues with our brains...

Microvasular Disease. Would love to discuss. It’s the little veins in the brain that have some built-up placque. I’m on statins for high cholesterol but hoping the statin will help stop this disease from worsening. I’m 69 years old.

I have the same condition. What has your doctor told you to do about it?

Basically nothing. It’s not uncommon as we age. I do get a little disoriented from time to time. But then, that could be from a fall I had five years go. Catscan normal. It was the MRI that showed the plaque. What about you? Symptoms?

I had experienced what we thought could have been a TIA (I had a stroke 20 years ago), so the doctor ordered a MRI. The MRI showed a couple of small bleeds (microhemorrhages) and cerebral small vessel disease. The only thing I was told was to try to keep a tight control on my blood pressure.

I haven't been officially given the diagnosis of microvascular disease, but they seem to have ruled out other causes for the cryptogenic (unknown origin) strokes I've had the last few years. Most have been asymptomatic, and the 2 with clear symptoms resolved quickly. I've been left with a very slight balance deficit, but otherwise fine. They put me on plavix to prevent platelet clotting. It's been almost a year, so far so good.

Yes, keep blood pressure under control. Mine is low. Always has been. So this contributes to a bit of off-centered-ness.

Be careful on Plavix ..was on it for years .. had a stroke of the right side of thalamus gland .. it was caused by my body no longer breaking down the Plavix .. My dr's never did any checking or blood test to make sure it was still working properly ...now on Eliquis ... You have to be your own advocate anymore too many things can slip through the cracks ..