complete dementia Flashcards
What is dementia?
A:
Dementia is a syndrome that refers to a progressive decline in intellectual functioning, severe enough to interfere with a person’s normal daily activities and social relationships.
How many disorders can cause dementia?
A:
Over 60-70 disorders can cause dementia.
What are the most prevalent forms of dementia?
A:
The most prevalent forms of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia.
What are some rarer forms of dementia?
A:
Some rarer forms of dementia include pre-senile dementia, Picks disease, Korsakov dementia, pseudo-dementia, endocrine related dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s chorea, posterior cortical atrophy, normal pressure hydrocephalus, and neurosyphilis.
What is vascular dementia?
A:
Vascular dementia refers to the pathology of many different types. Early symptoms include memory difficulties and executive difficulties. There is often a history of stroke/falls, and there are usually vascular risk factors present.
What is Lewy body dementia?
A:
Lewy body dementia is under the umbrella of diseases related to Parkinson’s disease. Early symptoms include executive difficulties, visuospatial problems, and hallucinations.
What is frontotemporal dementia?
A:
Frontotemporal dementia is an umbrella term that includes many different variants, including Picks disease, semantic dementia, and primary progressive aphasia (PPA). The main cognitive deficits are in executive functioning and attention, and memory and visuospatial abilities are mostly spared.
What is the main cognitive deficit in frontotemporal dementia?
A:
The main cognitive deficits in frontotemporal dementia are in executive functioning and attention.
What are some early symptoms of Lewy body dementia?
A:
Some early symptoms of Lewy body dementia include executive difficulties, visuospatial problems, and hallucinations.
How many types of vascular dementia are there?
A:
There are many different types of vascular dementia.
What is perception, and what are some common perception-related symptoms in dementia?
Perception is the process of making sense of information from the external environment and the body. In dementia, common perception-related symptoms include difficulty recognizing objects, judging the position of people or objects, and ignoring one side of the world.
What is executive functioning, and what are some common executive functioning-related symptoms in dementia?
Executive functioning refers to the cognitive processes involved in planning, decision-making, problem-solving, and self-monitoring. In dementia, common executive functioning-related symptoms include difficulty initiating tasks, getting stuck on tasks or repeating actions, and not thinking through the consequences of actions.
What is language, and what are some common language-related symptoms in dementia?
Language refers to the cognitive processes involved in understanding and expressing information. In dementia, common language-related symptoms include difficulty understanding words, concepts, and complex sentences, difficulty finding words, and reduced vocabulary.
What are some non-cognitive symptoms of dementia?
Non-cognitive symptoms of dementia include delusions, hallucinations, agitation/wandering, depression/dysphoria, anxiety, euphoria/elation, apathy/indifference, disinhibition, irritability/lability/aggression, aberrant motor behavior, night-time behavior, and appetite/eating changes.
What is the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE), and what does it test for?
The MMSE is a series of questions and tests that assess a person’s cognitive abilities, including memory, attention, and language. It is often used as part of the diagnostic criteria for dementia.
What are the key diagnostic criteria for dementia?
To be clinically diagnosed with dementia, a patient needs to show memory impairment, impairment in one or more cognitive domains (language, motor activity, recognition, executive function), and continuing cognitive decline.
How is the subtype of dementia determined?
A histopathological diagnosis is required to determine the subtype of dementia.
What is the amyloid hypothesis, and how does it relate to Alzheimer’s disease?
The amyloid hypothesis proposes that the accumulation of beta-amyloid protein outside the cell leads to the formation of plaques that kill neurons, causing Alzheimer’s disease.
What are beta-amyloid and tau proteins, and how do they relate to Alzheimer’s disease?
Beta-amyloid is a fragment of the amyloid precursor protein that accumulates outside the cell and is thought to be involved in the development of plaques in Alzheimer’s disease. Tau proteins help stabilize microtubules in neurons, and abnormal phosphorylation of tau proteins causes them to clump together and form neurofibrillary tangles, another hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
What is the tau hypothesis, and how does it relate to Alzheimer’s disease?
The tau hypothesis proposes that abnormal phosphorylation of tau proteins causes them to clump together and form neurofibrillary tangles, leading to impaired axonal transport and cell death in Alzheimer’s disease.
What are some current theories about the development of Alzheimer’s disease?
Current theories propose that Alzheimer’s disease is multifactorial, involving several pathways and dependent on life experience. Other proposed factors include protein accumulation, inflammation, and oxidative stress.
What is oxidative stress, and how does it relate to Alzheimer’s disease?
Oxidative stress refers to the development of free radicals, which can lead to cellular death. It is thought to play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
What is inflammation, and how does it relate to Alzheimer’s disease?
Inflammation refers to an overactive immune response, particularly from microglia in the brain. It is thought to play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
What are some common symptoms of neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer’s disease?
Common symptoms of neurofibrillary tangles include impaired axonal transport and cell death.
What are the cognitive domains? language, motor activity, recognition, executive function
To be diagnosed with dementia, patients must show memory impairment, impairment in one or more cognitive domains (language, motor activity, recognition, executive function), and continuing cognitive decline.
What are amyloid plaques and what role do they play in Alzheimer’s disease?
Amyloid plaques are structures that contain large amounts of a 42 amino acid peptide called “β-amyloid” or Aβ42. They are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and are thought to be involved in the death of neurons.
What are neurofibrillary tangles and what role do they play in Alzheimer’s disease?
Neurofibrillary tangles are clumps of tau protein that accumulate inside neurons, disrupting their normal functioning and contributing to their death. They are another hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
What is the amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer’s disease?
The amyloid hypothesis suggests that the accumulation of beta-amyloid protein (BAP) outside the cell leads to the formation of amyloid plaques, which then kill neurons and contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
What is the tau hypothesis of Alzheimer’s disease?
The tau hypothesis suggests that abnormal phosphorylation of tau proteins causes them to become “sticky,” leading to the breakdown of microtubules, which are responsible for axonal transport. This breakdown leads to cell death and contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
What is the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease?
The pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease involves the accumulation of Tau and Aβ proteins in the brain, which leads to synapse loss and neuronal death.
