Thousands of patients with advanced Alzheimer's disease could benefit from drugs, research suggests. A study in the the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients who stayed on the dementia drug Aricept had a slower decline in their memory. The drug tends not to be prescribed once sufferers progress beyond moderate symptoms. Medicines regulator NICE said its guidelines supported continui... (read more)
The speed someone walks may predict the likelihood of developing dementia later in life, according to researchers in the US. They also told a conference that grip strength in middle-age was linked to the chance of a stroke. The scientists said more studies were needed to understand what was happening. Experts said the findings raised important questions, but more research was needed. Suggestions of a link between s... (read more)
"How are you?" the doctor asks a patient with brewing dementia. The patient answers that she is fine. But is this enough? According to Dr. Laurel Coleman, a geriatric physician at Maine Medical Center, it's not. "So often I hear, "The doctor only asks my mom how she is. She says fine and it's over,'" Coleman said. "That's not dementia-capable, or dementia-aware, prima... (read more)
Many dementia patients also suffer from depression and drugs known as selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are frequently prescribed. But the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology reports that the risk of injuries from falls was tripled. The Alzheimer's Society called for more research into alternative treatments. The risk of falls following treatment with older anti-depressants is well established, as the... (read more)
A study by US scientists found that elderly people who eat fish at least once a week are three to five times less likely to develop the conditions than people who did not. But it is essential that the fish is cooked in a manner that preserves the vital Omega-3 fatty acids which help protect the brain, researchers said. Grilling or baking the meat provides the maximum levels of Omega-3, which increase blood flow t... (read more)
New research finds a marker used to detect plaque in the brain may help doctors make a more accurate diagnosis between two common types of dementia -- Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). The study is published in the November 30, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "These two type... (read more)
Two of the most worrisome trends in healthcare — the soaring rates of Type 2 diabetes and dementia — share several key biological processes. And scientists are beginning to think that is more than just a coincidence. Many researchers now believe that proper control of blood sugar could pay dividends in the future by reducing the number of people stricken by Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia and... (read more)
For people with type 2 diabetes, intense treatment doesn't slow decline in thinking skills, a new study found. Super-strict blood sugar control actually appeared to increase study participants' risk of death, the researchers found. People older than 70 with type 2 diabetes are twice as likely to suffer mental impairment as those without diabetes, researchers say. Intensively controlling ... (read more)
People with diabetes are at significantly higher risk of developing all types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, finds a new study that bolsters previous research connecting the two illnesses. The study of more than 1,000 people in Japan found that 27 percent of those with diabetes developed dementia, compared to 20 percent of people with normal blood sugar levels. To continue reading, follow the link below.
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging. It may be static, the result of a unique global brain injury, or progressive, resulting in long-term decline due to damage or disease in the body. Although dementia is far more common in the geriatric population, it can occur before the age of 65, in which case it is termed "early onset dementia".
Dementia is not a single disease, but rather a non-specific illness syndrome (i.e., set of signs and symptoms) in which affected areas of cognition may be memory, attention, language, and problem solving. It is normally required to be present for at least 6 months to be diagnosed; cognitive dysfunction that has been seen only over shorter times, in particular less than weeks, must be termed delirium. In all types of general cognitive dysfunction, higher mental functions are affected first in the process.
Especially in the later stages of the condition, affected persons may be disoriented in time (not knowing what day of the week, day of the month, or even what year it is), in place (not knowing where they are), and in person (not knowing who they, or others around them, are). Dementia, though often treatable to some degree, is usually due to causes that are progressive and incurable.
Symptoms of dementia can be classified as either reversible or irreversible, depending upon the etiology of the disease. Less than 10% of cases of dementia are due to causes that may presently be reversed with treatment. Causes include many different specific disease processes, in the same way that symptoms of organ dysfunction such as shortness of breath, jaundice, or pain are attributable to many etiologies.
Without careful assessment of history, the short-term syndrome of delirium (often lasting days to weeks) can easily be confused with dementia, because they have all symptoms in common, save duration. Some mental illnesses, including depression and psychosis, may produce symptoms that must be differentiated from both delirium and dementia.
There are many specific types (causes) of dementia, often showing slightly different symptoms. However, the symptom overlap is such that it is impossible to diagnose the type of dementia by symptomatology alone, and in only a few cases are symptoms enough to give a high probability of some specific cause. Diagnosis is therefore aided by nuclear medicine brain scanning techniques. Certainty cannot be attained except with brain biopsy during life, or at necropsy in death.
Some of the most common forms of dementia are: Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. It is possible for a patient to exhibit two or more dementing processes at the same time, as none of the known types of dementia protects against the others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia
Neurological Disorder, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration
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