Semantic dementia

This is a new entity, sometimes diflUcult to differentiate from progressive primary aphasia or from probable Alzheimer-type dementia. It was individualised by Snowden et al. in 1989 [22]. Semantic dementia is a loss of performances which Tulving grouped under the term semantic memory [23]. The main clinical feature is the loss of the sense of words, things and persons. 

Woods SP, Conover E, Rippeth ID, Carey CL, Gonzalez R, Marcotte TD, Heaton RK, Grant I (2004) Qualitative aspects of verbal fluency in HIV-associated dementia a deficit in rule-guided lexical-semantic search processes Neuropsychologia 42(6) 801-809... 

Studies in patients with dementia semantics have revealed a higher rate cerebrovascular adverse events, some resulting in fatalities in the active treatment group. 

One of the biggest problems for many clinical professionals who work with these clients is the lack of clarity and problems in semantics in defining what the term depression actually means. For many individuals, depression can mean feeling sad, blue, or down in the dumps, whereas for others there are clearly established criteria that reflect consistent patterns, signs, and symptoms relative to a mood disorder (Gitlin, 19%). Furthermore, some form of depression (also referred to as dysphoric mood) is present in virtually all mental health conditions. The only possible exceptions to this are clients who suffer from mania, certain forms of schizophrenia, or dementia (Gitlin, 1996). 

In patients with IBMPFD, onset of dementia in affected individuals occurred on average at 54 years (range 39-62 years) with an overall frequency of 33% [26]. The diagnosis of FTD is based on comprehensive neuropsychological assessments that reveal behavioral alteration (e.g. personal/social unawareness, or disinhibition), early expressive language dysfunction or semantic loss, and preservation of memory, orientation, and ideomotor praxis [27]. 

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