Clinical presentations of Dementia Flashcards
Define Dementia
Dementia is a clinical syndrome of progressive cognitive decline with impaired social or occupational functioning
In people over the age of 80 how many people will have dementia?
1 in 5 people
Much less common in younger people
What is the commonest in people over age of 65?
Alzheimer’s
Beyond Alzheimer;s what does the balance of disease change with?
Age of onset
What is extremely rare in younger people?
Lewy bodies
What is very important clinically?
Frontal temporal dementia
What does Dementia refer to?
Particular pattern of changes
What is the common pattern of cognitive impairment for AD?
- Episodic (and topographical) memory initially
- Early parietal deficits visuo-perceptual, visuo-spatial, calculation,praxis
- Later global cognitive impairment
What is the common pattern of cognitive impairment for DLB?
- Executive dysfunction
- Visual hallucinations
- Parietal lobe deficits/episodic memory
What is the common pattern of cognitive impairment for FTLD?
- Behavioural/personality changes
- Executive dysfunction
- Language-specific subtypes
What is the common pattern of cognitive impairment for VaD?
- Cognitive slowing
2. Executive dysfunction + can affect other lobes
What are the profiles seen on the neuropsychological tests mapped onto?
Particular hallmarks of atrophy
What does Alzheimer’s produce problems within?
Selective early hippocampi
- The medial temporal lobe
What do Semantic dementia produce problems within?
Understanding of speech
- The left temporal lobe
What does Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) affect?
The frontal lobe of the brain
What do profile on the scans go with?
Profile we see neuropsychologically
What does Neuroimaging contribute?
- Exclusion of surgically remediable lesion
- Diagnostic positive predictive value
- Detection and quantification of change
What is a framework for understanding (degenerative) dementias?
- Genetic/ other risk factors
- Abnormal protein deposited in the brain
- Loss of brain cells (brain atrophy)
- Altered neuro-transmitter function
- Symptoms and signs of the disease
What is a risk factor for the acceleration of the early onset of Alzheimer’s?
APOE4
not used clinically but mentioned dermatologically
What is the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease?
- APP
- PS1
- PS2
- ApoE4
What is the abnormal protein deposited in the brain for Alzheimer’s disease?
- Amyloid
2. Tau
What is the brain atrophy for Alzheimer’s disease?
Hippocampal atrophy initially then whole brain