Abstract:To the Editor: Pradhan et al. 1 report five cases of Japanese encephalitis (JE) with typical parkinsonian features. Of 52 patients with JE, five were selected based on isolated lesions in the substantia nigra on MRI. We also reported a rat model of PD 2 induced by the JE virus, which revealed bradykinesia and predominant involvement of substantia nigra as the major pathologic changes. This parkinsonism model is made in rats infected with JE virus at 13 days after birth. We demonstrated that the susceptibility … Show more
“…Although several studies have attempted to identify neuropsychological patterns typical of VaD or AD, 97–104 few studies have addressed this issue in MD, but one study by Bowler et al, reported that neuropsychological characteristics of MD are more closely related to those of VaD than AD, suggesting an important role for the ischemic component of MD 105 …”
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) are the most frequent causes of dementia in older people. Although AD can be diagnosed with a considerable degree of accuracy, the distinction between isolated AD, VaD, and mixed dementia (MD), where both pathologies coexist in the same patient, remains a controversial issue and one of the most difficult diagnostic challenges. Although MD represents a very frequent pathology, especially in older people, as reported in neuropathological studies, the respective importance of degenerative and vascular lesions, their interaction in the genesis of dementia, and the mere existence of MD are still debated. Accurate diagnosis of MD is of crucial significance for epidemiological purposes and for preventive and therapeutic strategies. Until recently, pharmacological studies have generally focused on pure disease, AD or VaD, and have provided little information on the best therapeutic approach to MD. This article provides an overview of MD in older people. A retrospective review of the recent literature on prevalence, incidence, course, risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment of MD was performed. The article also emphasizes the need for further studies, including neuropsychological and functional evaluations, and neuroimaging and clinicopathological correlations to develop a better understanding of MD, which appears to be one of the most common forms of dementia.
“…Although several studies have attempted to identify neuropsychological patterns typical of VaD or AD, 97–104 few studies have addressed this issue in MD, but one study by Bowler et al, reported that neuropsychological characteristics of MD are more closely related to those of VaD than AD, suggesting an important role for the ischemic component of MD 105 …”
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) are the most frequent causes of dementia in older people. Although AD can be diagnosed with a considerable degree of accuracy, the distinction between isolated AD, VaD, and mixed dementia (MD), where both pathologies coexist in the same patient, remains a controversial issue and one of the most difficult diagnostic challenges. Although MD represents a very frequent pathology, especially in older people, as reported in neuropathological studies, the respective importance of degenerative and vascular lesions, their interaction in the genesis of dementia, and the mere existence of MD are still debated. Accurate diagnosis of MD is of crucial significance for epidemiological purposes and for preventive and therapeutic strategies. Until recently, pharmacological studies have generally focused on pure disease, AD or VaD, and have provided little information on the best therapeutic approach to MD. This article provides an overview of MD in older people. A retrospective review of the recent literature on prevalence, incidence, course, risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment of MD was performed. The article also emphasizes the need for further studies, including neuropsychological and functional evaluations, and neuroimaging and clinicopathological correlations to develop a better understanding of MD, which appears to be one of the most common forms of dementia.
“…A growing body of evidence suggests that a strong association between executive dysfunction and IADL impairment exists in patients with VaD due to small vessel disease [23][24][25][26]. Importantly, this relationship appears to be independent of dementia severity.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Executive dysfunction is arguably the most salient neuropsychological feature of VaD and has emerged as a reliable determinant of IADL impairment in demented elderly [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Executive functions include complex thinking abilities, mental flexibility/set shifting, and behavioral initiation and persistence.…”
Section: Neuropsychological Correlates Of Iadl Dysfunction In Vadmentioning
“…Memory loss, necessary to fulfil the NINDS-AIREN criteria, may be not present at the beginning of the disease, being predominant the executive deficits [12,13]. Moreover, in VCI there is no single, classical neurobehavioral and cognitive phenotype since vascular brain injury may affect any region of the brain.…”
Although vascular dementia (VaD) represents the second most common cause of dementia after Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the elderly, and is referred as the "silent epidemic of the twenty-first century", there is still a controversy on terminology, classification and diagnostic criteria of VaD. The diagnosis of VaD resides in clinical criteria determining a cognitive impairment, the presence of cerebrovascular disease and, only in the case of post-stroke dementia or multi-infarct dementia, a temporal relationship between these. The search for a reliable biochemical tests helping in the diagnosis of VaD is so far not available. Several vascular risk factors have a role in the development of VaD and their identification and treatment are among the major aspects of management of VaD. A new line of research in this field is the study of genetic factors underlying vascular cognitive impairment which are: (1) genes predisposing to cerebrovascular disease, and (2) genes that influence brain tissue responses to cerebrovascular lesions. Evidence in favour of a coexistence of vascular and degenerative components in the pathogenesis of dementia in an elderly population comes from neuropathological and epidemiological studies. There is now a great debate whether VaD and AD are more than common coexisting unrelated pathologies and, instead, represent different results of synergistic pathological mechanisms. Preventive approaches aiming at reducing incident VaD by targeting patients at risk of cerebrovascular disease (primary prevention), or acting on patients after a stroke (secondary prevention) to prevent stroke recurrence and the progression of brain changes associated with cognitive impairment are mandatory therapeutic strategies.
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