Vascular dementia is caused by blood flow issues in the brain: it's one of the most common types of dementia, but not as well researched or understood as others.

Neuropathologist Elaine Bearer from the University of New Mexico is trying to change that.

In a recent review, she has suggested new categorizations for vascular dementia, each with unique pathologies – the actual biological changes in tissues and organs.

She highlights some significant overlap with Alzheimer's disease, and she says her team's novel microscopy method sheds light on how microplastics that have seeped into the body could be triggering or exacerbating cases of vascular dementia.

"We have been flying blind," says Bearer. "The various vascular pathologies have not been comprehensively defined, so we haven't known what we're treating."

"And we didn't know that nano- and microplastics were in the picture, because we couldn't see them."