Dementia memory disorders

LEARNING AND MEMORY DISORDERS NEUROGHEMIGAL PATHOLOGY IN DEMENTIA... 

Age-associated memory Disorder alleged to occur in those over 60 years of age in the absence of clinical evidence of dementia. 

Confirmation of BZ-induced dementia is also reconfirmed in the DSM-IV-TR in its Table I Diagnosis Associated With Class of Substances. Among 12 classes of substances, only 3 are indicated as causing persisting dementia alcohol, inhalants, and sedatives, hypnotics, or anxiolytics. Only two are associated with amnestic (memory) disorders alcohol and sedatives, hypnotics, or anxiolytics. The table indicates that BZs are in fact associated with the whole range of disorders that are also associated with alcohol, including dementia. 

Key Words Ginkgolides dementia memory diabetes bleeding disorders. 

Neurology Field concerning the nervous system, especially the brain, peripheral nerves, and spinal cord. Studies in this field include Alzheimer s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), carpal tunnel syndrome, Huntington s disease, dementia, memory loss, migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson s disease, strokes, Tourette s syndrome, and others. 

Crook, T., Salama, M., and Gobert, J. 1986. A computerized test battery for detecting and assessing memory disorders. In Senile Dementia Early Detection. Eds. Bes, A. et al., pp. 79-85. John Libbey Eurotext. 

Derivatives of pirolidine as drugs Piracetam (Nootropilum) polyvinylpyrrolidone used for dementia and cognitive problems such as a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning. 

ChEI treatments have been expanded also to include other dementias and CNS disorders, e.g. delirium, traumatic brain injuries and memory impairments, as well as myasthenia gravis, glaucoma and parasite infections. 

Dementia An organic mental disorder characterized by a general loss of intellectual abilities involving impairment in memory, judgment, and abstract thinking, as well as changes in personality. 

Marked forgetfulness often accompanies this disorder. As it worsens, this memory loss can be easily mistaken for early senility (dementia). 

Dementia An acquired organic mental disorder with loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning. The dysfunction is multifaceted and involves memory, behavior, personality, judgment, attention, spatial relations, language, abstract thought, and other executive functions. The intellectual decline is usually progressive, and initially spares the level of consciousness. [NIH]... 

Dementia generally involves an impairment in (1) memoiy and other cogntive abilities and (2) social and occupational functioning. The Diagnostic and Statisticai Manuai ofMentai Disorders (DSM-IV) defines dementia as a persistent deficit in memory and at least one other area of cognitive function language, praxis, object recognition, or executive... 

Frontotemporal dementias are characterized by gross structural changes in the frontal and anterior temporal lobes, metabolic disturbances, and involvement of certain subcortical structures as well (Ishii et al. 1998). Whereas in Alzheimer s disease the early cognitive disturbances are in memory, in frontotemporal dementias the early manifestations are in executive and behavioral function (Pfeffer et al. 1999 Varma et al. 1999). This relative cognitive distinction persists throughout the course of the two disorders (Pachana et al. 1996). Disinhibition and disorganization are common, and psychotic symptoms may be prominent in frontotemporal dementia. 

Huntington s disease, an autosomal dominant disorder, has a mean age-of-onset of 43-48 years. Symptoms appear gradually and worsen over a period of about 15 years until death occurs. Mood disturbance, impaired memory, and hyperrefiexia are often the first signs, followed by abnormal gait, chorea (loss of motor control), dystonia, dementia, and dysphagia. Cases of juvenile onset (<10 years old) are more severe and most frequently occur when the defective allele is inherited paternaily. About 25% of cases have late onset, slower progression, and milder symptoms. 

Amnesia. Like dementia, the main feature of amnesia is memory loss. Amnesia, however, does not affect other intellectual abilities in the same manner as dementia. Distingnishing dementia from amnesia is most often a consideration when you evaluate memory problems in a chronic alcoholic. Alcoholics may become demented, but they may also develop an amnestic disorder known as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. 

The deficit of cortico-striatal innervation that is presumably responsible for reported losses of striatal glutamate uptake sites (Aparicio-Legarza et al., 1997 Simpson et al., 1992), is likely to contribute to the cognitive dysfunction of schizophrenia. These have been described as having similarities to the subcortical dementia (Pantelis et al., 1992) seen in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders disturbances of corticostriatal function are thought to underlie this pattern of cognitive deficits that include disturbances of attention, executive function and short-term memory. 

Alzheimer s disease, the most prevalent form of dementia, afflicts approximately 10% of the population over age 65. The cardinal features of Alzheimer s disease are progressive loss of memory and disordered cognitive function. Alterations in behavior and a decline in Ian-... 

Medical illness or medication side effects may directly affect cognition virtually all classes of medication have been implicated. In adult patients, glucocorticoids can impair memory at relatively low doses (Keenan et ah, 1995 Newcomer et ah, 1999), as there are postulated effects on hippocampal neurons. Newcomer et ah, (1999) have reviewed the literature on illnesses in adults in which memory inversely correlates with cortisol levels, such as in Cushing s disease, Alzheimer s dementia, schizophrenia, and depression. There is no similar literature on the pediatric population. The risk of memory impairment puts chronic steroid treatment, such as that seen in certain pediatric rheumatologic disorders and severe asthmatics, for example, into a different perspective, however. Documentation of memory both before and during chronic steroid treatment might help determine detrimental effects in the pediatric population. 

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