Diagnosis, Classification and Natural History of Degenerative Dementias

Abstract

The release of the first approved medications for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in Canada has highlighted the renewed need and importance of diagnostic accuracy and understanding of the spectrum of the dementias. The epidemiological scope of the problem of dementia in Canada including risk factors, caregiving patterns and costs of care have been well-characterized through the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA 1991-1996) with some of the key findings reviewed here. Beyond Alzheimer’s disease the phenotypes and genotypes of the other degenerative dementias have been emerging with proposed operational diagnostic criteria that should facilitate their recognition in clinical practice. This paper reviews the clinical phenotypes of the most common causes of dementia with a proposed classification scheme and with discussion of their relevance from a differential treatment standpoint. This paper served as a background document for the working group of the Consensus Conference on Dementia (C3D) in February 1998 and has been revised subsequently for this publication.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms and executive function impairments in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia: The role of subcortical circuits

“…However, this finding, which might be interpreted as a potential confounding factor regarding cognitive and neuroimaging variables, could correspond to some aspects of these disorders in real life. Neurodegenerative diseases may be more prevalent in advanced age groups,1 whereas VaD, at least the “pure” presentations, might be more prevalent in younger subjects 41 , 42. Hence, the attempts to control for or match age between groups could have impacted the ecological validity of our findings.…”

“…Dementia is a syndrome characterized by global acquired cognitive decline, which interferes in patients' activities of daily living 1 , 2. Although all available diagnostic criteria for this condition have been based on the presence of cognitive impairments, mounting…”

Clinical Spectrum, Risk Factors, and Behavioral Abnormalities among Dementia Subtypes in a North Indian Population: A Hospital-Based Study

“…Dementia can be classified into two major categories, primary or degenerative and secondary or acquired. The most common degenerative dementias are Alzheimer disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Parkinson disease dementia (PDD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) [ 12 ]. Secondary causes mainly include vascular, CNS infections, trauma, metabolic derangements, and other reversible/treatable causes [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”