Dementia: Expert discusses the signs and symptoms
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a range of progressive neurological disorders. There are more than 200 different subtypes of dementia, but the most common are Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia and mixed dementia. A memory clinic could be one of the best and earliest indicators of your risk.
A study has made an important contribution to this effort, highlighting the role that self-perception may play in indicating Alzheimer's.
A research team led by the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) concluded that personal perception can be an important indicator for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease.
In a study of 449 older adults, published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, the scientists report that individuals with subjectively felt memory problems also exhibited on average measurable cognitive deficits that were associated with abnormalities in the spinal fluid.
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A total of 449 women and men, whose average age was about 70 years, participated in the study.
Of this group, 240 individuals were included via memory clinics of the participating university hospitals.
These persons had consulted the clinics for diagnostic clarification of persistent subjective cognitive complaints, usually after a doctor's referral.
The findings could have implications for early diagnosis and therapy development.