From: deputyfife23x@gmail.com   
      
   About Non-Alzheimer's Dementias   
      
      
   What is Dementia?   
   Dementia is the loss of memory and other intellectual functions severe enough   
   to cause problems in one's abilities to perform their usual personal, social,   
   or occupational activities. It is more common with advanced age and can be due   
   to many causes    
   including head injury, strokes, and other neurological and neurodegenerative   
   illnesses such as Parkinson's disease.   
      
   What are Other Causes of Dementia?   
   Though there are many, relatively rare causes of dementia, the most common   
   causes of dementia after Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the elderly are dementia   
   with Lewy Bodies (DLB), vascular dementia, and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).   
      
   Dementia with Lewy Bodies or "DLB"   
      
   Dementia with Lewy Bodies, or DLB, is a condition in which symptoms of   
   Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are simultaneously present.   
   Specifically, patients with DLB can have a general slowing of their movements   
   as well as visual hallucinations    
   or delusions early in the course of the illness, and a mental status that   
   fluctuates markedly over time such as episodes of confusion or sleepiness.   
   Persons with DLB may demonstrate extreme, sometimes violent movements during   
   sleep suggestive of dream-   
   enactment behavior. DLB is an important condition to diagnose as it has been   
   shown that persons affected by the disorder can be extremely sensitive to the   
   side effects of medications, particularly to the antipsychotic drugs   
   frequently used to treat    
   hallucinations. As the brains of persons with DLB usually also demonstrate the   
   changes of Alzheimer's disease, it is thought by some to represent a sub-type   
   of Alzheimer's disease and has also been referred to as the "Lewy Body variant   
   of Alzheimer's    
   disease."   
      
   Vascular / "Multi-Infarct" Dementia   
      
   Another common type of dementia is vascular, or "multi-infarct" dementia (MID)   
   in which strokes either contribute to the cognitive impairment or more rarely,   
   are the sole cause of the dementia. Persons with vascular dementia may be   
   known to have had    
   strokes or may have had them without having had any stroke symptoms. Vascular   
   dementia is more common in persons with risk factors for heart disease and   
   stroke such as high blood pressure, diabetes, elevated cholesterol levels, and   
   smoking. Vascular    
   dementia is commonly, but not always, associated with focal neurological   
   symptoms (for example, weakness on one side of the body), problems with   
   walking, or difficulty with urinary incontinence. Persons diagnosed with   
   vascular dementia frequently also    
   have the changes of Alzheimer's disease in their brains when studied at   
   autopsy. During life, imaging studies such as MRIs can help identify the   
   strokes.   
      
   Frontotemporal Dementia or "FTD"   
      
   Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and other focal dementias are an important group   
   of brain disorders that result in behavioral, cognitive, or language changes.   
   Although far less is known about FTD than about Alzheimer's disease (AD),   
   research during the    
   last ten years has greatly increased our understanding of these disorders.   
   Researchers at UCLA and elsewhere continue to make new discoveries about FTD,   
   formerly known as Pick's disease, and other brain-behavior syndromes. FTD   
   occurs most frequently in    
   persons under the age of 65 and is rare among persons over 75. As discussed,   
   the symptoms of FTD differ from typical memory impairments of Alzheimer's   
   disease. Not surprisingly, these changes in cognition and behavior are brought   
   about by pathological    
   changes in the brain that are also quite different from those of AD. FTD seems   
   to be caused by more focal changes in specific brain regions, as a result of   
   alternate protein changes. FTD brains show the deposit of Pick bodies and   
   balloon neurons. These    
   inclusions occur mostly in the frontal and temporal (side) parts of the brain,   
   and some patients will experience very focal changes in these regions. For   
   example, patients experience focal losses on the left side of the brain, where   
   the regions that    
   control language abilities are found. Other patients experience more frontal   
   changes, resulting in social behavior symptoms such as unusual speaking to or   
   touching strangers.   
      
   Symptoms of FTD (Pick's Disease)   
   Changes in personality   
   Lack of interest for usual activities or family and friends   
   Socially embarrassing behavior   
   Unusual compulsive or rigid behavior   
   Unusual eating behavior   
   Difficulty with speaking or finding or understanding words   
   Apathy   
   Emotional disengagement   
   Social disinhibition (e.g. talking to or touching strangers in public)   
   How is FTD Different from Alzheimer's Disease?   
   Although FTD and AD present with different symptoms, both are likely to affect   
   reason and other forms of cognition. There are many substantial differences   
   that exist between these disorders, however. While AD is most common in   
   persons over the age of 65 (   
   and increasing in likelihood as individuals get older), FTD occurs most   
   frequently in persons under the age of 65 and is rare among persons over 75.   
   As discussed, the symptoms of FTD differ from typical memory impairments of   
   AD. Not surprisingly, these    
   changes in cognition and behavior are brought about by pathological changes in   
   the brain that are also quite different from those of AD. Whereas AD involves   
   the deposit of plaques and tangles and the eventual loss of the much of the   
   cerebral cortex, FTD    
   seems to be caused by more focal changes in specific brain regions, as a   
   result of alternate protein changes. Instead of plaques and tangles, FTD   
   brains show the deposit of Pick bodies and balloon neurons. These inclusions   
   occur mostly in the frontal and    
   temporal (side) parts of the brain, and some patients will experience very   
   focal changes in these regions. For example, patients experience focal losses   
   on the left side of the brain, where the regions that control language   
   abilities are found. Other    
   patients experience more frontal changes, resulting in social behavior   
   symptoms such as unusual speaking to or touching strangers. The UCLA   
   Behavioral Neurology Program is focused on better understanding these and   
   other changes in patients, as well as    
   developing new treatments for this category of dementia.   
      
   Other Focal Neurobehavioral Disorders   
   Primary Progressive Aphasia and Semantic Dementia - speaking and word finding   
   problems.   
   Posterior Cortical Atrophy - seeing and reading problems.   
   Corticobasal Degeneration and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy - Problems with   
   movement or motor coordination of arms or eyes.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)