Cerebrovascular disease is a disease of the blood vessels in the brain, especially the arteries, and it is one of the leading stroke risk factors.
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How Cerebrovascular Disease Develops
The medical conditions that are listed above cause recurrent inflammation and injuries to the inner lining of the blood vessels. Cerebrovascular disease develops over time through this gradual damage.
Injury to the inner lining of blood vessels causes them to become narrow, stiff and sometimes irregularly shaped. Often, unhealthy blood vessels are described as having atherosclerosis, a stiffening of the inner lining, usually associated with cholesterol build up.
How It Causes a Stroke
When blood vessels develop cerebrovascular disease, they become prone to blood clots. A blood clot may start forming within an artery when the artery is narrow or disfigured on the inside.
When a blood clot grows inside a blood vessel it is called a thrombus. A thrombus that dislodges and travels through the blood vessel circuitry to another location in the body is called an embolus.A thrombus or an embolus can get stuck in the narrow blood vessels in the brain. When that happens, the damaged blood vessels from the cerebrovascular disease cause an interruption of blood supply calledischemia.
Irregularities and abnormalities due to cerebrovascular disease also cause the blood vessels to become more likely to tear, increasing the risk of hemorrhage, which is bleeding. When ahemorrhagic strokeoccurs, brain tissue damage from bleeding as well as brain tissue damage from ischemia both occur simultaneously.
When cerebrovascular disease develops, often there is also cardiovascular disease and vascular disease present throughout the body and as well. The causes of cerebrovascular disease are similar to the causes of diseases of other blood vessels. Some people are more prone to vascular disease in some blood vessels than other blood vessels.
There are some genetic conditions that cause cerebrovascular disease out of proportion to vascular disease in other parts of the body.
Consequences
Connection Between Cerebrovascular Disease and Dementia
How to Know If You Have It
Often, people who have had many silent strokes due to cerebrovascular disease are surprised when they are told that their brain MRI or brain CT scan shows evidence of previous strokes. This incidental finding suggests that there have been silent areas of infarction that did not cause obvious symptoms.
Over time, if several small silent strokes occur, a critical threshold may be reached. At this point, symptoms may suddenly become apparent if the compensatory ability of the brain is overwhelmed.
There is not usually a routine screening test for cerebrovascular disease, but it can sometimes be detected withbrain imaging studies. The absence of obvious cerebrovascular disease on a brain CT or MRI does not mean that it is not present.
Treatment
If you also have narrowing of the carotid arteries, which are located in your neck, medications can reduce your stroke risk. If the narrowing becomes severe, procedures are available to further reduce the risk of stroke as well.
A Word From Verywell
The idea of cerebrovascular disease may be somewhat alarming—but it should not be. If you have been diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease, there are effective ways to prevent it from worsening.
8 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Sacco RL, Rundek T.Cerebrovascular disease:Current Opinion in Neurology.2012;25(1):1-4. doi. 10.1097/WCO.0b013e32834f89b1. Published February, 2012.Zhou H, Zhang X, Lu J.Progress on diabetic cerebrovascular diseases.Bosn Journal of the Association of Basic Medical Sciences. 2014;14(4):185. doi. 10.17305/bjbms.2014.4.203. Published November, 2014.Søndergaard CB, Nielsen JE, Hansen CK, Christensen H.Hereditary cerebral small vessel disease and stroke.Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery. 2017;155:45-57. doi. 10.1016/j.clineuro.2017.02.015Fonseca Carriço AF, Fernandes F, Gomes R, Luís F.Smoking risk in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.In:6.3 Tobacco, Smoking Control and Health Education. European Respiratory Society; 2016:PA4326. doi. 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA4326.Frostegård J.Immunity, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.BMC Med. 2013;11(1):117. doi. 10.1186/1741-7015-11-117. Published May, 2013.Anfinogenova ND, Vasiltseva OY, Vrublevsky AV, et al.Right atrial thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: a narrative review.Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostatis. 2020;46(08):895-907. doi. 10.1055/s-0040-1718399. Published November, 2020.Della-Morte D, Pacifici F, Rundek T.Genetic susceptibility to cerebrovascular disease:Current Opinion in Lipidology. 2016;27(2):187-195. doi. 10.1097/MOL.0000000000000275. Published April, 2017.Smith EE, Saposnik G, Biessels GJ, et al.Prevention of stroke in patients with silent cerebrovascular disease: a scientific statement for healthcare professionals from the american heart association/american stroke association.Stroke. 2017;48(2). doi. 10.1161/STR.0000000000000116. Published February, 2017.Additional ReadingLi X,LyuP, Ren Y, An J, Dong Y.Arterial stiffness and cognitive impairment. J Neurol Sci. 2017 Sep 15;380:1-10.
8 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Sacco RL, Rundek T.Cerebrovascular disease:Current Opinion in Neurology.2012;25(1):1-4. doi. 10.1097/WCO.0b013e32834f89b1. Published February, 2012.Zhou H, Zhang X, Lu J.Progress on diabetic cerebrovascular diseases.Bosn Journal of the Association of Basic Medical Sciences. 2014;14(4):185. doi. 10.17305/bjbms.2014.4.203. Published November, 2014.Søndergaard CB, Nielsen JE, Hansen CK, Christensen H.Hereditary cerebral small vessel disease and stroke.Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery. 2017;155:45-57. doi. 10.1016/j.clineuro.2017.02.015Fonseca Carriço AF, Fernandes F, Gomes R, Luís F.Smoking risk in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.In:6.3 Tobacco, Smoking Control and Health Education. European Respiratory Society; 2016:PA4326. doi. 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA4326.Frostegård J.Immunity, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.BMC Med. 2013;11(1):117. doi. 10.1186/1741-7015-11-117. Published May, 2013.Anfinogenova ND, Vasiltseva OY, Vrublevsky AV, et al.Right atrial thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: a narrative review.Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostatis. 2020;46(08):895-907. doi. 10.1055/s-0040-1718399. Published November, 2020.Della-Morte D, Pacifici F, Rundek T.Genetic susceptibility to cerebrovascular disease:Current Opinion in Lipidology. 2016;27(2):187-195. doi. 10.1097/MOL.0000000000000275. Published April, 2017.Smith EE, Saposnik G, Biessels GJ, et al.Prevention of stroke in patients with silent cerebrovascular disease: a scientific statement for healthcare professionals from the american heart association/american stroke association.Stroke. 2017;48(2). doi. 10.1161/STR.0000000000000116. Published February, 2017.Additional ReadingLi X,LyuP, Ren Y, An J, Dong Y.Arterial stiffness and cognitive impairment. J Neurol Sci. 2017 Sep 15;380:1-10.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Sacco RL, Rundek T.Cerebrovascular disease:Current Opinion in Neurology.2012;25(1):1-4. doi. 10.1097/WCO.0b013e32834f89b1. Published February, 2012.Zhou H, Zhang X, Lu J.Progress on diabetic cerebrovascular diseases.Bosn Journal of the Association of Basic Medical Sciences. 2014;14(4):185. doi. 10.17305/bjbms.2014.4.203. Published November, 2014.Søndergaard CB, Nielsen JE, Hansen CK, Christensen H.Hereditary cerebral small vessel disease and stroke.Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery. 2017;155:45-57. doi. 10.1016/j.clineuro.2017.02.015Fonseca Carriço AF, Fernandes F, Gomes R, Luís F.Smoking risk in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.In:6.3 Tobacco, Smoking Control and Health Education. European Respiratory Society; 2016:PA4326. doi. 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA4326.Frostegård J.Immunity, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.BMC Med. 2013;11(1):117. doi. 10.1186/1741-7015-11-117. Published May, 2013.Anfinogenova ND, Vasiltseva OY, Vrublevsky AV, et al.Right atrial thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: a narrative review.Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostatis. 2020;46(08):895-907. doi. 10.1055/s-0040-1718399. Published November, 2020.Della-Morte D, Pacifici F, Rundek T.Genetic susceptibility to cerebrovascular disease:Current Opinion in Lipidology. 2016;27(2):187-195. doi. 10.1097/MOL.0000000000000275. Published April, 2017.Smith EE, Saposnik G, Biessels GJ, et al.Prevention of stroke in patients with silent cerebrovascular disease: a scientific statement for healthcare professionals from the american heart association/american stroke association.Stroke. 2017;48(2). doi. 10.1161/STR.0000000000000116. Published February, 2017.
Sacco RL, Rundek T.Cerebrovascular disease:Current Opinion in Neurology.2012;25(1):1-4. doi. 10.1097/WCO.0b013e32834f89b1. Published February, 2012.
Zhou H, Zhang X, Lu J.Progress on diabetic cerebrovascular diseases.Bosn Journal of the Association of Basic Medical Sciences. 2014;14(4):185. doi. 10.17305/bjbms.2014.4.203. Published November, 2014.
Søndergaard CB, Nielsen JE, Hansen CK, Christensen H.Hereditary cerebral small vessel disease and stroke.Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery. 2017;155:45-57. doi. 10.1016/j.clineuro.2017.02.015
Fonseca Carriço AF, Fernandes F, Gomes R, Luís F.Smoking risk in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.In:6.3 Tobacco, Smoking Control and Health Education. European Respiratory Society; 2016:PA4326. doi. 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA4326.
Frostegård J.Immunity, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.BMC Med. 2013;11(1):117. doi. 10.1186/1741-7015-11-117. Published May, 2013.
Anfinogenova ND, Vasiltseva OY, Vrublevsky AV, et al.Right atrial thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: a narrative review.Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostatis. 2020;46(08):895-907. doi. 10.1055/s-0040-1718399. Published November, 2020.
Della-Morte D, Pacifici F, Rundek T.Genetic susceptibility to cerebrovascular disease:Current Opinion in Lipidology. 2016;27(2):187-195. doi. 10.1097/MOL.0000000000000275. Published April, 2017.
Smith EE, Saposnik G, Biessels GJ, et al.Prevention of stroke in patients with silent cerebrovascular disease: a scientific statement for healthcare professionals from the american heart association/american stroke association.Stroke. 2017;48(2). doi. 10.1161/STR.0000000000000116. Published February, 2017.
Li X,LyuP, Ren Y, An J, Dong Y.Arterial stiffness and cognitive impairment. J Neurol Sci. 2017 Sep 15;380:1-10.
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