My husband (83)was diagnosed with small vessel white matter changes, slightly greater than expected for his age.he is prediabetic and has borderline hi blood pressure.he is having some memory loss. should i be worried about dementia, ad, or stroke?

That CT finding is quite common for an octogenarian. I am more surprised if he does not have some memory loss because most 83- years-old people do. Risk of dementia (senile type) or stroke is present but not that significant compared with his counterparts based on his relatively benign medical history. I do not worry about Alzheimer disease. Overall, he is still at reasonably good health.

Even mild longstanding hypertension causes these white matter changes which lead to vascular dementia. AD is caused by a different mechanism. Because you note his memory loss, I recommend his having a mental status assessment by a neurologist or mental health professional. There are some medications to help cognitive loss. Keeping his BP at 130/80 would be advisable. Proper diet also important