CD 422: Exam 4

Dementia

An acquired neurological syndrome associated often with progressive deterioration in intellectual skills and behavior

Reversible dementia

Dementia that is caused by treatable conditions (endocrine disorders, nutritional deficiencies, etc)

Progressive Dementia

Dementia that is uncurable and gets worse as time goes on

Rapidly Progressive Dementia

Dementias that take less than a few months up to 2 years from initial presentation of symptoms to significant decline

Dementia of the Alzheimer’s Type (DAT)

A cortical form of dementia with an unknown cause

What are some of the neuropathological symptoms of dementia?

• Cerebral atrophy

• Neuronal degeneration

• Neurofibrillary tangled

• Senile plaques

• White matter changes

• Depletion of neurotransmitters

Early symptoms of DAT

• Lapses in memory

• Faulty reasoning

• Poor judgment

• Disorientation

• Alteration of mood

• Behavioral changes

Middle symptoms of DAT

• Mental impairments become more obvious

• Disturbances of language and communication

• Restlessness and agitation

• Wandering

Final symptoms of DAT

• Profound motor deficits

• Complete incontinence

• Loss of almost all intellectual and cognitive abilities

What are some communication problems associated with DAT?

• Anomia

• Comprehension deficits

• Topic maintenance

• Paraphasias

• Hyperfluency

• Impaired reading and writing

• Impaired comprehension

• Mustism

• Impaired pragmatics

Vascular Dementia

Dementia caused by large vessel occlusions, lacunar state, and Binswanger’s disease

Large Vessel Occlusions

Death of the brain tissue associate with the arteries of the brain

Lacunar State

Special type of neural atrophy associated with a variety of subcortical dementia

Binswanger’s Disease

Subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy with cortical structures mostly spared

Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Dementia caused by the presence of Lewy bodies (small spots within damaged nerve cells); characterized by greater impairments in visual and spatial skills