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The Dr. called last night. My mom's MRI revealed moderate to severe brain shrinkage? Has anyone else received this report and what does that mean for her? There's bad circulation to the brain.

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Mom was diagnosed with Dementia 5 -6 years ago. In terms of its progression, with Moderate to Severe brain shrinkage and lack of circulation is what alarmed me most?
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When there is brain tissue that is dead...it shows up as bright areas on the MRI. This is irreversible. It likely means dementia now, and likely continuing.
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Find out the diagnosis in medical terms, so you can look it up.
Consider "White matter disease", but don't panic or overload on the stuff out there until you know what it is, or what it likely is per the doctor, and a second opinion.
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She most likely has dementia. Although not absolutely. There are no absolutes in neuroscience. There are people who have shrunken brains that exhibit no signs of dementia. But those people are mentally active. They learn new things all the time. Thus they make the most of what they have. The brain is plastic. It will respond if properly stimulated. It takes effort. Unfortunately most people with dementia aren't willing to learn. Once you start down that slope it just gets steeper and steeper.
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Everyone's brain does shrink to some extent in very old age; but if the radiologist described it as moderate to severe, then what you're looking at is not just normal aging.

The bad circulation is almost certainly the real problem; and I agree that it sounds as if the doctor wants to bring up the subject of vascular dementia.

If you're going to look it up and find out what you can online that's fine but try not to panic or meet trouble halfway - everybody's symptoms and challenges are different. Use your research to make a list of questions you want to ask about your mother specifically.
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She could develop Dementia.
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Did you ask the doc what the implications of that are? I would think that you are looking at Vascular Dementia
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When my wife was officially diagnosed the doctor showed us the mri and somewhat explained what was happening. I could actually see the area showing the frontal lobe had shrunken.
He did mention there were other areas that showed problems but the frontal lobe was his greatest concern.
What it means has to be explained by a doc. There are so many things that can go wrong. My wife is, so far, diagnosed with FrontoTemporal Degeneration with Primary Progressive Aphasia.
And as I understand it, she will and has shown communication language difficulty, and many cognitive problems.
I have done the google thing for more, deeper answers but start with the doctor.
Best of luck with everything.
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I remember years ago when mom had an MRI,  I was told her brain "lit up like a Christmas tree", but no one ever took the time to explain exactly what that meant or what the implications were for the future - it was on this site that I first saw the words Vascular Dementia. Go to your doctor and ask them to explain what they see and what that means, both for what is happening today and what may happen in the future.
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