Individuals affected by this disorder usually experience, over a ten-year period, a gradual decrease in memory, cognitive, and behavioral abilities.

There are cases where symptoms and physical findings related to Binswanger's disease have stabilized or improved for a brief period. Unfortunately, in most cases, progression of the disorder usually comes back.

Affected individuals experience deterioration of intellectual abilities (also known as dementia), progressive memory loss, strokes, seizures, paralysis of one side of the body, and/or an abnormal gait or slow, unsteady walk.

Vascular dementia is the 2nd most common type of dementia after Alzheimer disease. The condition is not a single disease;  it is a group of syndromes relating to different vascular mechanisms.

Patients who have had a stroke are at increased risk for vascular dementia. Recently, vascular lesions have been thought to    play a role in Alzheimers.

However, since vascular dementia is preventable, early detection and an accurate diagnosis are essential.