Types of Dementia Archives - BRACE Alzheimer's Research

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 11:45:54 +0000

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)

FTD is less common (about 2% of dementia cases), but is a significant cause of dementia in those under 65 years of age.

FTD is sometimes called Pick’s disease or frontal lobe dementia.
Nerve cells in the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain die and the pathways that connect them change.
The frontal lobes are where the brain manages problem solving, speech and the control of emotions.
The role of the temporal lobes includes remembering words and recognising faces or familiar objects.
FTD leads to symptoms including changes in personality and behaviour, and difficulties with language.
Autopsy studies show that the death of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes is linked to clumps of abnormal proteins inside cells, including tau. Tau may take the form of Pick bodies, giving frontotemporal dementia its original name of Pick’s disease.

What happens in the brain?

Neurons (the main cells in our brain) in the frontal lobe or temporal lobe of the brain are damaged. The frontal lobe is associated with our behaviour and personality, whereas the temporal lobe is associated with language, production and comprehension of speech.

Frontotemporal Dementia Overview

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Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 12:09:00 +0000

Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB)

Estimates for the number of people with DLB vary, but it is in the range of 10-15% of cases or about 100,000 people in the UK.
The condition is named after Frederick H. Lewy, a neurologist who worked with Alois Alzheimer.
DLB shares symptoms with both Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. This can involve problems with memory and thinking, but can also include hallucinations and tremors.
Lewy bodies are abnormal deposits of a protein called a-synuclein in nerve cells, and are associated with cell damage. They are the underlying cause of several progressive diseases affecting the brain and nervous system, including dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease.
Symptoms of DLB depend upon where the Lewy bodies are in the brain. If they are in the outer layers of the brain, this is usually associated with problems in mental abilities. At the base of the brain, they are more likely to cause the movement disorders associated with Parkinson’s disease.

Dementia with Lewy Bodies Overview

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Vascular dementia

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 12:14:00 +0000

Vascular dementia

Vascular dementia is a common type of dementia which accounts for around 17% of cases.

Vascular dementia is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain. The lack of blood flow can cause damage to, or even kill brain cells.

Reduced blood flow has several potential causes, including:

Narrowing of blood vessels.
After a stroke, which is a blockage or a burst of a blood vessel. This is known as a post-stroke dementia.
Mini strokes, also known as transient ischemic attacks (TIA), cause tiny widespread damages.

Symptoms are similar to other dementia. These can occur suddenly after a stroke, or slowly after some time.

Vascular Dementia - An Overview

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

admin — Sun, 03 Jan 2021 12:19:00 +0000

Alzheimer's disease (AD)

Key Alzheimer's Facts

Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia. It accounts for around 60-70% of cases of dementia.

Alzheimer's is a progressive disorder which means symptoms develop gradually and become worse over time.
The first noticeable signs of Alzheimer's disease are memory problems and at times confusion. Other symptoms may include disorientation, personality changes and problems with language and speech. This may include not using the right words in sentences.
Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr Alois Alzheimer’s. He identified an "unusual disease" which had affected one of his patients, who had symptoms such as memory loss and disorientation. When he looked at the brain of the patient following their death, he found various changes and damage in different parts of the brain.

What happens in the brain?

Alzheimer's involves a build of up plaques in the brain knows as beta-amyloid plaques and tau.
These plaques are like sticky clumps that form between brain cells. These get in the way of the brain cells communicating with one another and break connections, causing cell death.
Tau proteins are like ropes within brain cells which help them to move molecules, in Alzheimer's these get tangled. This leads to important molecules not moving around in the cell, causing the cell to die.

Alzheimer's Dementia Overview

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Brain photo by Professor Seth Love

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