Senile dementias

Other nootropic agents in some stage of clinical development include nebracetam (9), nefinacetam (10), and BMY 21502 (11). Nebracetam, an aminomethyl pyrrolidinone derivative, is expected to be approved in Japan in 1994 (73). In clinical studies involving patients having cerebrovascular or senile dementia of the Alzheimer s type, clinical symptoms such as spontaneous or emotional expression were enhanced in up to 71% of cases. Long-term treatment using nebracetam in patients with cerebral infarction also afforded marked improvement in most cases with few side effects (74). A review of this compound has beenpubUshed (75). 

CV-2619) Use senile dementia therapeutic, coenzyme QIO derivative, nootropic... 

In addition to such direct advantages, pervasive computing has a big social contribution to make. It can be used, for example, to enable patients and their relatives to keep in touch, and to help people with cognitive disabilities function on a daily basis. One illness that lends itself to such treatment is senile dementia, which is likely to be a growing trend in the graying populations of the Western World. 

Bowen, DM, Smith, CB, White, P and Davison, AN (1976) Neurotransmitter-related enzymes and indices of hypoxia in senile dementia and other abiotrophies. Brain 99 454 66. 

Perry, EK, Tomlinson, BE, Blessed, G, Bergmann, K, Gibson, PH and Perry, RH (1978) Correlation of cholinergic abnormalities with senile plaques and mental test scores in senile dementia. Brit. Med. J. 2 1457-1459. 

The identification, using analytical microprobe and solid-state magic-angle nuclear magnetic resonance (NM techniques, of aluminosilicate deposits in the cores of the pathognomic senile plaques in the brains of Alzheimer subjects (Candy et al., 1986) has prompted widespread scientific and public concern, and controversy with regard to the possible aetiological role of environmental aluminium and aluminosilicates in senile dementia (Walton, 1991). 

Alzheimer s disease A progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common type of senile dementia. It is characterised by a marked decline in cognitive functioning and severe behavioural disturbances. 

Lassen NA and Ingvar DH (1980). Blood flow studies in the aging normal brain and in senile dementia. Aging of the brain and dementia. Aging, 13, 91-98. 

Manning CA, Ragozzino ME and Gold PE (1993). Glucose enhancement of memory in patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Neurobiology of Ageing, 14, 523-528. 

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

Human foods that are particularly rich in copper (20 to 400 mg Cu/kg) include oysters, crustaceans, beef and lamb livers, nuts, dried legumes, dried vine and stone fruits, and cocoa (USEPA 1980). In humans, copper is present in every tissue analyzed (Schroeder et al. 1966). A 70-kg human male usually contains 70 to 120 mg of copper (USEPA 1980). The brain cortex usually contains 18% of the total copper, liver 15%, muscle 33%, and the remainder in other tissues — especially the iris and choroid of the eye. Brain gray matter (cortex) has significantly more copper than white matter (cerebellum) copper tends to increase with increasing age in both cortex and cerebellum. In newborns, liver and spleen contain about 50% of the total body burden of copper (USEPA 1980). Liver copper concentrations were usually elevated in people from areas with soft water (Schroeder et al. 1966). Elevated copper concentrations in human livers are also associated with hepatic disease, tuberculosis, hypertension, pneumonia, senile dementia, rheumatic heart disease, and certain types of cancer (Schroeder et al. 1966). 

Senile dementia is another type of mental disease for which physical and chemical causes, aside from aging itself, are known. Cerebral arteriosclerosis is a every common accompaniment, and this is known to decrease the cerebral blood flow and the total metabolism of the brain. 11 This itself is enough to account for the deranged metabolism and the accompanying deranged mental functions. 

In an earlier chapter we called attention to the large inborn anatomical differences in the size and pattern of blood vessels which carry blood from the heart to the brain. This could be an important predisposing factor in senile dementia since a mild arteriosclerosis involving small arteries could be more than the equivalent of a severe arteriosclerosis when the arteries are relatively large. 

See also research, medical biochemical individuality and, 206-207 metabolism, 203 variations, exceptions and, 202 vision, 202-203 vitamin research and, 204-205 scopolamine, 228 scurvy, 167-168 self-esteem, genetics and, 16 self-selection of foods, 180 Selye, Hans, 230 senile dementia, 34-35, 227, 230 sensory physiology and psychology, 205 serotonin, 236 serum amylase, 80-81 serum lipase, 81 serum phenol sulfatase, 81 sex behavior, 100, 104-105 psychiatry and, 231 sex differences... 

Alvarez, X.A., Pichel, V., Perez, P., et al. (2000) Double-blind, randomized, placebo-control-led pilot study with anapsos in senile dementia effects on cognition, brain bioelectrical activity and cerebral hemodynamics. Meth. Eind. Exp. Clin. Pharmacol., 22, 585-594. 

A high level of homocysteine is an indication of a low rate of conversion of homocysteine to methionine and hence a low level of the methylating agent S-adenosyl methionine. The latter, plus the toxic effects of homocysteine, provides a link between the reactions listed above and three diseases cardiovascular disease (Chapter 22), senile dementia (Chapter 14) and cancer (Chapter 21). 

Senile dementia can result in an even lower intake of food with further diminution of vitamin levels, so that a vicious circle can develop. 

There is a possibility that a partial deficiency of some vitamins (especially vitamin B12 and folic acid) impairs the activity of key enzymes in the brain which might be one factor in the development of senile dementia and even Alzheimer s disease (see above for discussion of homocysteine in this context). 

There is some evidence that statins can reduce the risk of stroke and even senile dementia. Consequently, there is current clinical discussion as to whether statins should be recommended for all patients with an increased risk of stroke and possibly for protection against senile dementia. 

Tourette s syndrome, a heterogeneous behavioral disorder associated with motor and vocal tics of variable form and severity, can be effectively treated with haloperidol. Antipsychotics can also be employed to control disturbed behavior in senile dementia or Alzheimer s disease, since they decrease confusion, agitation, and hyperactivity. Most of these drugs also exhibit a strong antiemetic effect and can sometimes be used clinically for this purpose. 

The first neurochemical evidence of a disturbed serotonin function in cognition came from the changes in serotonin and/or 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) levels in a number of forebrain nuclei, the temporal and cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and other areas of the brain taken at autopsy from patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer s type (Adolfsson et al. 1978 Arai et al. 1984 D. M. Bowen et al. 1979, 1983 A. J. Cross et al. 1983 Winblad et al. 1982). The depletions are regionally selective reductions in se-... 

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