[Familial occurrence of Alzheimer's disease].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Total and cerebral metabolism of catecholamines (CA) was examined in patients with associated chronic hypertonic encephalopathy and extrapyramidal disorders. It was discovered for the first time that there was an increase in noradrenaline in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid together with a lowering of the content of dopamine and major metabolite thereof along the pathway of oxidative deamination of homovanillic acid. CA metabolism was shown to correlate with the patients' age, duration and gravity of extrapyramidal disorders. It is suggested that the revealed metabolic disorders of CA--neurotransmitters which are likely to underlie the development of neurological deficiency and characteristic mental disorders occur as a result of the diverse complex of biochemical alterations and are related both to the complex mechanisms of the pathogenesis of essential hypertension and ischemic injury to the brain as well as to the localization in the brain of lacunar infarctions. The complexity of the pathogenic treatment of the disease is emphasized. The main approaches to the pharmacological correction of the revealed disorders are outlined.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
This is a case report of 63 year old men who presented one and a half syndrome with ipsilateral peripheral type facial palsy due to lacunar infarct. MRI taken one week after the onset (TR 2000, TE 38) demonstrated small high intensity lesion, 4 mm in diameter, located at the dorsal portion of pontine tegmentum, contacting with the floor of 4th ventricle. This MRI coincides with the lesion limited to the abducens nucleus and genu of facial nerve. Traditionally, projections from the PPRF to the ipsilateral abducens nucleus and opposite MLF was postulated. Recently, however, experiment on monkey and autopsy cases showed projection from abducens nucleus, instead of PPRF, to the opposite MLF has been proposed. MRI findings in this case support the latter hypothesis. It is expected that, with the advent of MRI, more meticulous functional neuroanatomy will be developed.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Two cases are reported of occlusive disease of the bilateral internal carotid arteries with dementia in which the anastomosis of the superficial temporal artery to the middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA bypass) resulted in marked improvement in clinical aspects. One patient was a 29-year-old male who complained of transient weakness of the extremities and memory impairment. Computerized tomography (CT) scans showed multiple small infarctions, while cerebral angiography demonstrated findings of Moya-like disease. The cognitive function tests were subnormal and the study of cerebral blood flow (CBF study) showed diffuse low flow in both hemispheres. Based on his clinical symptoms and CBF study, the STA-MCA bypass was performed on both sides in two stages without complications. Postoperatively, his clinical symptoms and cognitive function improved gradually, in accordance with increased CBF in both hemispheres. Six months after the operation, cognitive function tests were within normal limits. Another patient was a 61-year-old hypertensive male who complained of motor weakness, impairment of memory and urinary incontinence. CT scans showed multiple small infarctions, while cerebral angiography revealed occlusion of both internal carotid arteries at the cervical portion. The cognitive function was at the pre-dementia level, and CBF study revealed diffuse low flow in both hemispheres. Based on the clinical symptoms and CBF study, the STA-MCA bypass was performed on both sides in two stages. Postoperatively, clinical symptoms and cognitive function markedly improved. From our results, the diagnosis of vascular dementia, and indications for the use of STA-MCA bypass in this category of patients are discussed.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Serum T3 concentration and T3/T4 Ratio in the patients of senile dementia (SD) are smaller than those in the healthy. Especially, those in the group of cerebro-vascular dementia (CVD) were remarkably lower than the healthy. However average of serum T4 in the former is very similar to it in the latter. This fact suggests the disturbance of metabolic transformation of T4 to T3 in the post-apoplectic brain. It seems to lead man to the metabolic disturbances of glucose, protein, nucleic acid, etc, and moreover CVD. Basing on the experiences, the author thinks of the next .--'Cerebro-vascular dementia may be able to be prevented, if a very small dose of triiodothyronine (T3) is given to the early stage after an apoplectic attack with a consideration to side-effects of T3. Moreover, T3 may bring a preventive and therapeutic effect even to senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT).' 'The reason why the Japanese people have tended to suffer from CVD more frequently than SDAT, may be due to the customs, of which they have lived in seaside and taken iodine-rich fishes and marine plants as their subsidiary foods, as if the schizophrenic patients in the Alpine regions of iodine-lack were characterized by prevalence of so called negative symptoms'.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Twenty-four patients of comparable age, blood pressure, and degree of dementia were classified by an "Ischemic Score" based on clinical features into "multi-infarct" and "primary degenerative" dementia. Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured by the intracarotid xenon 133 method. Both groups showed a decreased proportion of rapidly clearing brain tissue (largely gray matter). Cerebral blood flow per 100 gm brain per minute was normal in the primary degenerative group but low in the multi-infarct group. This suggests the blood flow is adequate for metabolic needs of the brain in patients with primary degenerative dementia but inadequate for those with multi-infarct dementia. There was no correlation between degree of dementia and CBF in the primary degenerative group but an inverse relationship existed in the multi-infarct group. Reactivity of blood vessels to reduction of arterial carbon dioxide pressure was normal in both groups.
A multicentre, double-blind, between-patient study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of oxiracetam (800 mg tablet), in comparison with placebo, each given twice daily for 12 weeks to patients suffering from primary degenerative, multi-infarct or mixed dementia. Efficacy was assessed by a neuropsychological battery (simple reaction time, controlled associations, short story, Raven's Progressive Matrices, token test, digit span, word list learning), administered at the beginning and at the end of the study, and by a quality of life scale, administered at entry and after 6 and 12 weeks treatment. Sixty-five patients (28 men, 37 women, mean age 71 yrs) were enrolled; 58 completed the study: 2 on oxiracetam were withdrawn because of poor tolerability, 2 (one in each group) were withdrawn for poor compliance, one (on oxiracetam) for the occurrence of a transient ischaemic attack (defined as not related to the treatment) and 2 for administrative reasons. A significantly (p < 0.01) different effect in favour of oxiracetam was observed on the quality of life scale, and confirmed by significant (defined according to the Bonferroni technique) differences in some neuropsychological tests (e.g. controlled associations, short story). Four patients in the oxiracetam group complained of a total of 5 unwanted effects, and 1 on placebo complained of 3 unwanted effects, but none of them was withdrawn from the study.
We report here on the coexistence of dementia and depression in a community population aged 75 years and older. Complete information about mood and cognition was available for 286 cognitively intact subjects selected for assessment because of their low scores on the Mini-Mental State, and for 158 mildly and moderately demented subjects. Severely demented subjects, who were incapable of providing information, were excluded. Five percent (8/158) of demented subjects also fulfilled criteria for major depressive disorder Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition (DSM-III) compared with 9% (27/286) of cognitively intact subjects. No substantial differences existed in the symptoms reported by demented depressives and nondemented depressives, but subjects who suffered from both disorders were so markedly apathetic that their depression might easily have been overlooked had specific enquiries not been made. Depression was particularly associated with dementia secondary to multi-infarct and Parkinson's disease. When reviewed one year later, 2 of the 18 surviving depressed, nondemented subjects showed evidence of dementia. Both presented unusual diagnostic difficulties, however, and no evidence emerged that large numbers of elderly people will be misclassified in community surveys that include a mental state examination, cognitive testing, and an informant interview.
Catecholamines (CA) are among the most well known neurotransmitters (NT) which act in a wide range of brain structures and are involved in many important functions, such as general arousal, autonomic, neuroendocrine and motor control and possible in emotion and mentation. The neuropharmacology of the brain CA synapses has played a crucial role in understanding the complex phenomena of the central neurotransmission and the feed-back mechanisms by which the central neurones adapt optimally to the functional needs at any time. The model of neurotransmission, as well as the mechanism by which various substances act at the synaptic level are briefly outlined. Due to the fact that the CA are implicated in many important functions of the brain, it has been suggested that certain mental diseases such as depression, as well as mental and behavioral manifestations of the ageing brain might have their origin in an impairment and particularly in a functional deficiency of the CA occurring at various structures. The available evidence in support to this view is outlined and the hypothesis that senile mental deterioration and the mental impairment encountered in various types of dementia (senile, presenile and multi-infarct) may be due to deficiency of the brain CA is discussed. Since the CA and particularly the dopamine deficiency seems to be a common denominator in depression and in senile mental deterioration, it is suggested that the dopaminergic drugs may serve as useful therapeutic means on one hand and important tools for testing the validity of the above hypotheses on the other.
Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) and somatostatin (SRIF) were measured in 77 female inpatients with moderate to extreme dementia and in 17 elderly female controls. Both multi-infarct (MID) and Alzheimer-type (SDAT) demented patients had equally elevated CSF CRH and TRH but not SRIF levels as compared with the controls. This elevation was, however, not seen in patients with simple dementia while it was most prominent in those exhibiting marked depressive symptoms. It is concluded that depression rather than dementia itself may be associated with CSF CRH and TRH elevation in elderly patients with cognitive impairment.
Changes from the end of 4-week placebo (washout) baselines to the end of 3-month therapy with three chemically different cognition enhancers (CEs) [i.e., piracetam, acetyl-L-carnitine, and nimodipine (NIM)], and parallel changes in placebo controls, were compared to determine the influence of the severity of disease at study entry. Four trials published elsewhere, showing significant treatment differences between active drugs and placebo, were selected according to their (a) sharing at least one global measure for treatment outcome and having shown effects on at least one additional scale or test, and (b) presenting an obvious rank order in the severity of disease. Each study was a standard-controlled clinical phase III trial with greater than 100 psychogeriatric in-or outpatients. The patients' symptoms met the criteria for mild to moderate/severe age-related organic brain syndrome, a core syndrome of senile dementia, either from the primary degenerative, mixed, or multi-infarct type. The extent of changes on placebo was clearly influenced by the mean pretreatment severity of disease. On the whole, the improvements on active drugs reached or exceeded the baseline variability of psychogeriatric scales and tests.
1. In a multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical study in 178 elderly patients with cognitive decline, nimodipine, a calcium antagonist was found to be a therapeutically effective agent in the treatment of old age dementias. 2. Treatment with 90 mg of nimodipine administered orally in divided doses for 12 weeks was significantly superior to an inactive placebo on all outcome measures including the Wechsler Memory Scale, the Mini Mental State Examination, the Global Deterioration Scale, the Sandoz Clinical Assessment Geriatric Scale, the Plutchik Geriatric Rating Scale, the Severity of Illness and Global Improvement Scales of Clinical Global Impression, and the Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression. 3. Adverse effects with nimodipine were few and mild. The drug was equally well tolerated and equally effective in the two major dementias of old age, i.e., primary degenerative and multi-infarct. The number of abnormal laboratory test readings remained essentially unchanged from pre-treatment to post-treatment.