White Brain Mass DISEASE

[tim4960]

Hi, I am a 50 yr old male in relativly good health. I reacently went for an MRI on my brain because of constant forgetfulness, repeating conversations I had only hours ago. Dementia runs hard in my family, mother has it now and grandmother and great grandmother both had it.My Dr called the next day to inform me that they had found something called White Brain Mass Disease. I have looked it uup on the internet and it states that it is the leading cause of MS. wE HAVE SET UP AN APPT WITH A NUROLOGIST BUT CAN YOU GIVE ME AN IDEA OF WHAT WBMD is. Thanks                        Tim

[Neuro Forum]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to examine you and obtain a history and review your imaging, I can not tell you what the exact cause of your memory loss is nor what the implications of your MRI findings are. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

There are multiple causes for white matter disease on MRI, so called “plaques in the brain”. Most often, these are due to what is called "chronic small vessel disease", literally meaning diseased small vessels that supply blood flow to the brain. This is not an uncommon process in the brain and increases with age. This is not a disease in and of itself but rather is a reflection of unhealthy blood vessels, damaged by years of plaque build-up. This is most often due to a combination of several factors including the following: high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and high cholesterol. If these factors are well controlled, and with appropriate medications (such as aspirin or cholesterol lower medications or blood pressure medications etc) the damage to the brain can be stabilized and further damage prevented.

While the presence of small vessel disease does not predict dementia per se, it may increase risk of a type of dementia called vascular dementia, and likely increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease though research regarding the latter is ongoing.

Other causes of plaques on MRI can usually be distinguished based on history and symptoms, such as symptoms of neurologic deficit (for example arm weakness or difficulty walking etc). These can also be distinguished based on the MRI appearance. These include, but are not limited to, multiple sclerosis, other demyelinating disease, and inflammatory processes such as vasculitis. A rare disorder called CADASIL can cause dementia, strokes, or migraines in multiple family members, and leads to a specific pattern of white matter abnormalities.

The different causes of white matter disease can be determined by an experienced neurologist to some extent by interpretation of various sequences of the MRI and the pattern of the white matter lesions. Other investigations are sometimes necessary to distinguish the various causes of white matter lesions.

You are on the right track with plans for evaluation by a neurologist; continued followup with your physicians is recommended.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.

[purfectflower]

A related discussion, Blood supply to brain restricted was started.

[ciscoP]

my mother has had dissy spells if you will for the past couple of months or so, she has even passed completely out standing in line waitng to pay for the food at a local store. she has high blood pressure and is in her early 40's very healthy she is the reason im so healthy always buying the good foods and no junk food and staying in the gym. she recently went to have an MRI and there sayin it looks like multiple cysts on the brain or something called white mass disease and i would like to know if you do have this case what are the chances of making it out of the procedures and opperations and kimo like  on making it out alive?