Search results for "Dementia"
showing 10 items of 542 documents
Mediterranean Diet and Longevity in Sicily: Survey in a Sicani Mountains Population
2012
Over the past several years, increasing evidence suggests that the Mediterranean diet has a beneficial influence on several age-related diseases, showing protective effect on health and longevity. Mediterranean diet refers to dietary patterns found in olive-growing regions of the Mediterranean countries. Previous data reported that in Sicily, Italy, the largest Mediterranean island, there are some mountainous regions where there is a high frequency of male centenarians with respect to the Italian average. The aim of the present study was to characterize centenarians living in one of this region, the Sicani Mountains, located in western Sicily. Present data shows that in this zone there are …
Tower of London test: a comparison between conventional statistic approach and modelling based on artificial neural network in differentiating fronto…
2011
The early differentiation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from frontotemporal dementia (FTD) may be difficult. The Tower of London (ToL), thought to assess executive functions such as planning and visuo-spatial working memory, could help in this purpose. Twentytwo Dementia Centers consecutively recruited patients with early FTD or AD. ToL performances of these groups were analyzed using both the conventional statistical approaches and the Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) modelling. Ninety-four non aphasic FTD and 160 AD patients were recruited. ToL Accuracy Score (AS) significantly (p < 0.05) The use of hidden information contained in the different items of ToL and the non linear processing of…
Psychological distress and its correlates in older care-dependent persons living at home.
2009
This study examined psychological distress in older people receiving home nursing care. The influence of risk factors and personal resources on their perceived psychological distress was also examined.A linear regression analysis was applied in a cross-sectional sample of 214 patients aged 75 years and older. Psychological distress was measured using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The independent variables were sex, education, age, living arrangement, household composition, reported illnesses, Barthel ADL Index, self-rated health, Subjective Health Complaints, Clinical Dementia Rating Scale, Sense of Coherence and Revised Social Provision Scale.Of the 214 participants, 23 (10.7%) r…
The nACHR4 594C/T polymorphism in Alzheimer disease
2006
Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia with complex etiology and multifactorial origin. Although several neurochemical deficits have been described in AD patients, explanation of the nature of the cognitive disturbance is focused on the "cholinergic hypothesis." The neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (neuronal nAChR) belongs to the superfamily of ionic channel activated by ligand. This paper presents a population-based population association study, testing the hypothesis that variants of the nAChR gene confer genetic susceptibility to AD. The authors analyzed two cohorts constituted by 60 controls and 80 AD patients in which significant increase of 594T polymorphi…
Validation of a New Cognitive Screening Method for Stroke Patients
2019
Objective. Two million adults under fifty years of age have a cerebral stroke every year worldwide. Neuropsychological assessment is the best way to identify poststroke cognitive dysfunction, but it is often time-consuming and can be tiring for the patient, and hospitals vary in their availability of neuropsychological expertise. A valid and reliable cognitive screening method could be advantageous in identifying patients who need comprehensive neuropsychological examination. Our purpose in this study was to validate a newly developed cognitive screening method as an identifier of cognitive dysfunction after stroke in working-aged patients. Methods. We analyzed new cognitive screening metho…
SPM-based count normalization provides excellent discrimination of mild Alzheimer's disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment from healthy aging☆
2008
Statistical comparisons of [(18)F]FDG PET scans between healthy subjects and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) usually require normalization of regional tracer uptake via ROIs defined using additional software. Here, we validate a simple SPM-based method for count normalization. FDG PET scans of 21 mild, 15 very mild AD, 11 aMCI patients and 15 age-matched controls were analyzed. First, we obtained relative increases in the whole patient sample compared to controls (i.e. areas relatively preserved in patients) with proportional scaling to the cerebral global mean (CGM). Next, average absolute counts…
Choice of reference area in studies of Alzheimer's disease using positron emission tomography with fluorodeoxyglucose-F18
2007
At present, there is still no consensus on the choice of the reference area in positron emission tomography (PET) studies of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, PET scans with fluorodeoxyglucose-F18 were carried out in the following groups of subjects: 47 patients with probable AD, 8 patients with mild cognitive impairment, and 15 age-similar healthy subjects. Scans normalized to the cerebral global mean (CGM), cerebellum (CBL), and the primary sensorimotor cortex (SMC). We evaluated the effect of the different count normalization procedures on the accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET to detect AD-specific metabolic abnormalities (voxel-based group comparison) and to differentiate between patient…
Physical Activity and Amyloid-β Brain Levels in Elderly Adults with Intact Cognition and Mild Cognitive Impairment
2015
Objectives To examine the associations between amyloid-β brain deposition and physical activity (PA) in elderly adults without dementia and to investigate whether the association has a dose-response relationship. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting French community-dwelling people. Participants Elderly adults with normal or mildly impaired cognition (mean age 74.7 ± 4.2; 60.4% female) with available information on current self-reported PA and amyloid-β brain deposition measured using positron emission tomography (PET) using the PET-ligand florbetapir F 18 (n = 268). Measurements A standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) was obtained for each subject. Participants were divided according to …
Clinical characteristics of patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis carrying the pathogenic GGGGCC hexanucleotide repeat expansion of C9…
2012
A large hexanucleotide (GGGGCC) repeat expansion in the first intron of C9ORF72, a gene located on chromosome 9p21, has been recently reported to be responsible for 40% of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases of European ancestry. The aim of the current article was to describe the phenotype of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases carrying the expansion by providing a detailed clinical description of affected cases from representative multi-generational kindreds, and by analysing the age of onset, gender ratio and survival in a large cohort of patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We collected DNA and analysed phenotype data for 141 index Italian familial amyotrophic l…
Validating the DemTect with 18-Fluoro-2-Deoxy-Glucose Positron Emission Tomography as a Sensitive Neuropsychological Screening Test for Early Alzheim…
2005
<i>Objectives:</i> The first study to validate the diagnostic value of the DemTect, a short neuropsychological screening test for dementia (8–10 min), using 18-fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in patients of a memory clinic. <i>Methods:</i> DemTect results were compared to the clinical diagnosis and to FDG-PET as a reference method for the early in vivo detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). <i>Results:</i> 38 patients (age 65.2 ± 9.8 years, 16 men, 22 women) were investigated using clinical standard examination, FDG-PET, and cranial magnetic resonance imaging. According to NINCDS-ADRDA and Petersen’s criteria, 18 patients had…