An overview on Hebephrenia, a diagnostic cornerstone in the neurodevelopmental model of Schizophrenia

Pre-Kraepelinian observations converged in Kahlbaum’s and Hecker’s description of Hebephrenia. For Kraepelin, Hebephrenia was an ‘idiopathic incurable dementia whose onset is in adolescence’. It became the core of ‘Dementia Praecox’, and then Bleulerian ‘Schizophrenia’. In recent decades, the resurgence of the ‘late neurodevelopment’ hypothesis of schizophrenia has brought into focus Hecker’s clinical reports of adolescents who, as a result of a putative loss of psychic energy, showed a rapidly progressive cognitive impairment leading to functional and behavioural disorganization. This paper summarizes the nineteenth-century conceptualization of Hebephrenia as a developmental illness.

Employers ’ Response to Workers With Progressive Cognitive Impairment: A Review of Policy in Canada

Longer lifespans, the gig economy, eligibility for government pensions, and more testing for age-related cognitive changes, increase the potential for workers developing mild cognitive impairment and/or early onset dementia (MCI|EOD) “on the job”. This critical analysis assesses Canada’s policy environment for employers when employees are diagnosed with MCI|EOD. Our search for policy literature included: a scoping review of academic literature involving Canadian-focused articles, and countries where novel or innovative policy had been evaluated and published; a search for Canadian court judgements and tribunal decisions; and a grey literature search in both Canadian and international sources, as innovation will often happen “at the margin” and updated policy may take years to be enacted and formalized. We used participatory research to obtain feedback from a broad group of stakeholders including employers, industry, professional organizations, and government, as well as people living with MCI/dementia, to ensure outputs were reflective of current policy. We found that: 1) Canadian federally-regulated employers are governed by similar Acts & Codes as the provinces and territories, with some notable exceptions, 2) Disability discrimination and accommodation case law in Canada is settled, however there are few cognitive impairment cases to provide specific guidance, 3) Scant empirical research in the scientific literature addresses policy that incents employers to build workspaces for employees with MCI|EOD that help them stay on the job longer. We conclude that engaging with employers to better understand their needs will help policy-makers to support them build workspaces that encourage productive engagement of all workers.

Huntington’s disease: diagnosis and management

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease characterised by neuropsychiatric symptoms, a movement disorder (most commonly choreiform) and progressive cognitive impairment. The diagnosis is usually confirmed through identification of an increased CAG repeat length in the huntingtin gene in a patient with clinical features of the condition. Though diagnosis is usually straightforward, unusual presentations can occur, and it can be difficult to know when someone has transitioned from being an asymptomatic carrier into the disease state. This has become increasingly important recently, with several putative disease-modifying therapies entering trials. A growing number of conditions can mimic HD, including rare genetic causes, which must be considered in the event of a negative HD genetic test. Patients are best managed in specialist multidisciplinary clinics, including when considering genetic testing. Current treatments are symptomatic, and largely directed at the chorea and neurobehavioural problems, although supporting trial evidence for these is often limited.

REVIEW ON ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC FINDINGS IN PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Nowadays, with the constant enhancement of the longevity of the human population, the spreading of dementia is in steady rising. Among the many different sources of progressive cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease plays a major role being the most common reason for mental decline in the elderly population. Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that leads to progressive cognitive impairment and has severe health, social and economic tolls. The lack of effective treatment and the problems of the daily living that the disease creates for the patients and their families raises many important issues in modern times. Due to the effect on the individuals and the need for a permanent caregiver, it is of high importance to have accessible tools for early diagnostic and assessment of the ongoing treatment. Electroencephalography is a noninvasive, easily reproductive diagnostic method with low cost that can be performed in different stages of the diseases of the central nervous system and give input on the current condition. This review presents the current achievements in the field of the usage of electroencephalography and its specific findings in patients with Alzheimer's disease and the qualitative and quantitative changes that appears and are important for early diagnosis, differential diagnostic, prediction of acceleration of the pathological process, distinguishing of co-existing conditions and follow-up of the effect of the administered treatment.

THE ROLE OF BETA-AMYLOID IN NORM AND AT ALZHEIMER`S DISEASE

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive impairment and memory loss. The pathogenesis of AD is complex, depends on many factors, and has not yet been fully studied. Extracellular deposits of amyloid-beta (Ab) peptide in the form of senile plaques, the formation of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, and massive neuronal loss are considered as the main pathological signs of AD. However, recently there have been many data that indicate other pathways involved in the pathogenesis of AD. This review aims to analyze the existing data on the physiological role of Ab in the brain under normal conditions and its pathological role in Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s Disease and Specialized Pro-Resolving Lipid Mediators: Do MaR1, RvD1, and NPD1 Show Promise for Prevention and Treatment?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease and a major contributor to progressive cognitive impairment in an aging society. As the pathophysiology of AD involves chronic neuroinflammation, the resolution of inflammation and the group of lipid mediators that actively regulate it—i.e., specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs)—attracted attention in recent years as therapeutic targets. This review focuses on the following three specific SPMs and summarizes their relationships to AD, as they were shown to effectively address and reduce the risk of AD-related neuroinflammation: maresin 1 (MaR1), resolvin D1 (RvD1), and neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1). These three SPMs are metabolites of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which is contained in fish oils and is thus easily available to the public. They are expected to become incorporated into promising avenues for preventing and treating AD in the future.

Alzheimer’s disease: many failed trials, so where do we go from here?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative brain disorder associated with relentlessly progressive cognitive impairment and memory loss. AD pathology proceeds for decades before cognitive deficits become clinically apparent, opening a window for preventative therapy. Imbalance of clearance and buildup of amyloid β and phosphorylated tau proteins in the central nervous system is believed to contribute to AD pathogenesis. However, multiple clinical trials of treatments aimed at averting accumulation of these proteins have yielded little success, and there is still no disease-modifying intervention. Here, we discuss current knowledge of AD pathology and treatment with an emphasis on emerging biomarkers and treatment strategies.

A low-cost and autonomous tracking device for Alzheimer’s patients

Purpose Alzheimer’s is the most commonly occurring neurodegenerative disease and progressive cognitive impairment is its major symptom due to which the patients tend to wander and get lost in unfamiliar places. This is a constant cause of worry for caretakers and a source of distress to the patients themselves. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a low-cost, autonomous, embedded systems-based wearable device for real-time location tracking using GPS and the concept of geo-fencing. The system provides real-time updates in the form of a text message sent to the mobile number of a family member or caregiver. Findings An alert is sent whenever the patient moves out of a certain “safe zone” area and sends subsequent updates after every 5 min of such an event. The system supports caregivers of patients with early and moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Social implications Alzheimer’s patients are prone to disorientation, confusion and tend to wander off. Since the device eliminates the need for the patients to operate it and is instead at the discretion of the system itself, the chances of it failing to help are minimized. Hence, with this project, the authors address the need for an autonomous device that can assist caretakers in tracking Alzheimer’s patients. Originality/value The various existing technologies that are in use now for tracking are often high in price, not tailored to Alzheimer’s and are non-autonomous. To overcome this, the authors utilized easily accessible technology into developing this system, which not only be affordable, but also addresses the major flaw in existing systems – which is that they rely on being operated by the patients themselves.