scholarly journals Commentary

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 364-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Neill

The article by Byrne gives a general overview of dementia with Lewy bodies (LBD) and discusses treatment in terms of modulation of neurotransmitter systems, treatment of psychotic symptoms and extrapyramidal features. However, as is the case with Alzheimer's disease, the dementia is related to underlying pathological processes which result in death and/or malfunction of neurons. Prevention or amelioration of this neuronal loss is therefore the ultimate aim of treatment. Such treatment is not yet available and the possibility of its development is likely to depend on further elucidation of the underlying pathological process. The relationship of LBD to Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease should be considered, as this is important for the determination of the underlying pathological processes in LBD.

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reale ◽  
Costantini ◽  
Jagarlapoodi ◽  
Khan ◽  
Belwal ◽  
...  

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most threatening neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by the loss of memory and language function, an unbalanced perception of space, and other cognitive and physical manifestations. The pathology of AD is characterized by neuronal loss and the extensive distribution of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). The role of environment and the diet in AD is being actively studied, and nutrition is one of the main factors playing a prominent role in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases. In this context, the relationship between dementia and wine use/abuse has received increased research interest, with varying and often conflicting results. Scope and Approach: With this review, we aimed to critically summarize the main relevant studies to clarify the relationship between wine drinking and AD, as well as how frequency and/or amount of drinking may influence the effects. Key Findings and Conclusions: Overall, based on the interpretation of various studies, no definitive results highlight if light to moderate alcohol drinking is detrimental to cognition and dementia, or if alcohol intake could reduce risk of developing AD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 216 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audun Osland Vik-Mo ◽  
Lasse Melvaer Giil ◽  
Miguel Germán Borda ◽  
Clive Ballard ◽  
Dag Aarsland

IntroductionUnderstanding the natural course of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in dementia is important for planning patient care and trial design, but few studies have described the long-term course of NPS in individuals.MethodPrimary inclusion of 223 patients with suspected mild dementia from general practice were followed by annual assessment, including the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), for up to 12 years. Total and item NPI scores were classified as stable, relapsing, single episodic or not present based on 4.96 (s.d. 2.3) observations (98% completeness of longitudinal data) for 113 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 84 patients with LBD (68 dementia with Lewy bodies and 16 Parkinson's disease dementia).ResultsWe found that 80% had stable NPI total ≥1, 50% had stable modest NPI total ≥12 and 25% had stable NPI total ≥24 scores. Very severe NPS (≥48) were mostly single episodes, but 8% of patients with Alzheimer's disease had stable severe NPS. Patients with Alzheimer's disease and the highest 20% NPI total scores had a more stable or relapsing course of four key symptoms: aberrant motor behaviour, aggression/agitation, delusions and irritability (odds ratio 55, P < 0.001). This was not seen in LBD. Finally, 57% of patients with Alzheimer's disease and 84% of patients with LBD had reoccurring psychotic symptoms.ConclusionsWe observed a highly individual course of NPS, with most presenting as a single episode or relapsing; a stable course was less common, especially in LBD. These findings demonstrate the importance of an individualised approach (i.e. personalised medicine) in dementia care.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. P216-P217
Author(s):  
Benjamin Austin ◽  
Barbara Bendlin ◽  
Sterling Johnson ◽  
Henrik Zetterberg ◽  
Kaj Blennow ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah K. Kaufman ◽  
Kelly Del Tredici ◽  
Talitha L. Thomas ◽  
Heiko Braak ◽  
Marc I. Diamond

AbstractAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by accumulation of tau neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and, according to the prion model, transcellular propagation of pathological “seeds” may underlie its progression. Staging of NFT pathology with phospho-tau antibody is useful to classify AD and primary age-related tauopathy (PART) cases. The locus coeruleus (LC) shows the earliest phospho-tau signal, whereas other studies suggest that pathology begins in the transentorhinal/entorhinal cortices (TRE/EC). The relationship of tau seeding activity, phospho-tau pathology, and progression of neurodegeneration remains obscure. Consequently, we employed an established cellular biosensor assay to quantify tau seeding activity in fixed human tissue, in parallel with AT8 phospho-tau staining of immediately adjacent sections. We studied four brain regions from each of n=247 individuals across a range of disease stages. We detected the earliest and most robust seeding activity in the TRE/EC. The LC did not uniformly exhibit seeding activity until later NFT stages. We also detected seeding activity in the first temporal gyrus and visual cortex at stages before NFTs and/or AT8-immunopositivity were detectable. AD and putative PART cases exhibited similar patterns of seeding activity that anticipated histopathology across all NFT stages. Our findings are consistent with the prion model and suggest that pathological seeding activity begins in the TRE/EC rather than in the LC, and may offer an important addition to classical histopathology.


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