_______________________________ Alzheimer Disease and Dementias: Early Detection and Care Planning
TYPES OF DEMENTIA
Disease
Symptoms
Attributes/Causation
Parkinson disease
Poor executive function Trouble walking, unstable gait Impaired responsiveness to visual cues Speech impairment Impaired affect/modified facial expression Decreased eye blinking Depression Confusion Insomnia Rigidity/freezing, tremor Alzheimer disease traits (memory loss, confusion, and language changes) Frontal lobe brain cell damage due to nerve damage Diagnosis confirmed postmortem Drastic change in behavior and personality Aggression Loss of speech Loss of decision-making ability Loses sense of self-awareness Patient will become completely dependent Progressive dementia Affects ability to think, reason, and process information Impaired movement, mood, and behavior
Basal ganglia cells die, causing dopamine levels to drop Progressive, chronic disease Personalized treatments for symptom relief Exercise can improve symptoms and may protect the brain No cure
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
Frontal lobe controls language and personality Also known as Pick disease No cure
Lewy body dementia (LBD)
1.4 million people living with this disease Due to unusual deposits of alpha-synuclein protein on brain Initial diagnosis may be mental/psychological health No cure Caused by constriction or breakdown of blood vessels in and around the brain Can be the result of a stroke(s) Lifestyle factors (diet, lack of movement, smoking) contribute to disease progression Disease can be allayed by exercise, diet, avoiding alcohol and smoking Originally referred to as punch drunk syndrome Caused by extensive hits to the head Brain has tau protein like Alzheimer disease, but presents uniquely in CTE Some symptoms can be addressed with medication Diagnosed postmortem No cure
Parkinsonian-like rigidity Hallucinations, paranoia
Vascular dementia
Problems with reasoning Impacted judgement, memory, and other thought processes Symptoms vary by location of actual constriction
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)
Memory loss, confusion Mood disorder, personality changes, rage Can present in mid-life Person becomes erratic and unpredictable
Atypical Alzheimer disease
Amnestic problems Unusually early symptoms impacting executive and motor functioning Similar to Alzheimer disease or other form of dementia Varied symptoms suggest multiple forms of dementia
Frontal variant of Alzheimer disease Posterior cortical atrophy
Mixed dementia
Most often diagnosed as Alzheimer disease Co-existing pathology, such as blood clots or vascular disease, found postmortem Impacted by relationship between cognitive function and underlying brain abnormalities
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MDRI2026
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