Dementia Flashcards
Pathology of Alzheimer’s disease
Beta-amyloid plaques
Neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein
Pathology of frontotemporal dementia
Extreme atrophy of frontal and temporal lobes
Pick’s cells, Pick’s bodies
Neurodegenerative proteinopathy (Tau)
Pathology of Lewy Body dementia and Parkinson’s disease dementia
Lewy bodies inside the neurons (contain a-synuclein)
Pathology of vascular dementia
Cerebrovascular disease, reduced blood flow to the brain leading to damage
Pathology of prion disease
Neurodegenerative proteinopathy = change of prion protein within the brain (CJD is most common)
What genes can be associated with autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease?
Amyloid precursor protein mutations (chromosome 21)
Presenilin 1
Presenilin 2
APOE gene (e4 allel e predisposes to disease)
What condition is associated with Alzheimer’s disease?
Down’s syndrome
Presentation of Alzheimer’s disease?
Memory loss (short-term) Dysphasia Apraxia (visuospatial difficulties) Agnosia Anosognosia (lack of insight) Insidious impairment of higher intellectual function with alterations in mood and behaviour
What are the different presentations of frontotemporal dementia?
Frontal presentation: behavioural variant
Temporal presentation: primary progressive aphasia (progressive non-fluent aphasia, sematic dementia)
Presentation of the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia
Behavioural and personality changes
Presentation of the progressive non-fluent aphasia variant of frontotemporal dementia?
Difficulty pronouncing or speaking words
Presentation of the progressive sematic dementia variant of frontotemporal dementia?
Impaired understanding of words
Fluent speech lacking meaning
What condition can be associated with frontotemporal dementia?
MND
What age group is affected by frontotemporal dementia?
<65yrs
Presentation of Lewy Body dementia
2 of: Visual hallucinations Fluctuating cognition (delirium-like) REM sleep behaviour disorder Parkinsonism (not more than 1yr prior to onset of dementia, TRAP) Positive DAT scan