Search results for ‘Subject term:"alzheimers disease"’ Sort:
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An introduction to Alzheimer's disease
- Author:
- ALZHEIMER'S SOCIETY
- Publisher:
- Alzheimer's Society
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 25p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This booklet provides a concise, straight forward introduction to Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia. It is written to help anyone affected by Alzheimer's disease including, those with dementia, friends and family members, and professionals, to understand the condition. The contents include: causes, symptoms and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease; treatment and care; support of people with Alzheimer's disease; and guidance for professionals.
Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders
- Publisher:
- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
This internatioanl journal includes reports of new research findings and new approaches to diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and associated disorders. Contributions fall within all relevant scientific fields and clinical specialties, including neurobiology, neurochemistry, molecular biology, neurology, neuropathology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, gerontology, and geriatrics. Coverage on Social Care Online from this journal is limited to relevant systematic reviews only.
Alzheimer's Disease: diagnosis and new treatments
- Author:
- THOMPSON June
- Journal article citation:
- Community Practitioner, 72(2), February 1999, pp.28-29.
- Publisher:
- Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association
The chance of contracting dementia roughly doubles every five years beyond the age of 65. Yet despite its high prevalence, a cure for the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, remains elusive. Considers the characteristics of Alzheimer's Disease and the new drug treatments which offer some hope to sufferers.
Progress in diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's disease
- Author:
- BAYER Antony
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 13(3), 2012, pp.189-196.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
The number of people with Alzheimer's disease is predicted to steadily increase over the next 40 years. This paper reviews key research papers and policy documents on developments in diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease published in the last few years, with an emphasis on those most relevant to Wales. It covers the importance of timely diagnosis, the development and benefits of memory clinic services, the use of biomarkers in diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, and effective interventions including psychosocial interventions, cognitive rehabilitation and drug treatment. It concludes that there is an urgent need to boost recruitment of people with dementia and early Alzheimer's disease into research trials.
Cholinesterase inhibitors and Alzheimer’s disease: patient, carer and professional factors influencing the use of drugs for Alzheimer’s disease in the United Kingdom
- Authors:
- HUTCHINGS Deborah, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 9(3), August 2010, pp.427-443.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Cholinesterase inhibitors are a major breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Between 2001 and 2006 guidance in the United Kingdom recommended that people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease were eligible for treatment with donepezil, rivastigmine and galanatamine on the National Health Service (NHS). However, previous research has shown a considerable variation in uptake of and access to treatment. This study investigated which factors influence decisions to initiate, continue and discontinue treatment with the drugs. The views and experiences of 12 older people referred for memory problems or receiving treatment, 11 family carers and 16 health and social care professionals were obtained using a combination of semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Findings revealed four factors outside UK guidance and prescribing budgets influenced decisions to utilise the drug treatments – perceptions of treatment availability and effectiveness, resource capacity, carer perceived benefits, and professional ethics. In conclusion, the authors suggest that unequal access to treatment and ethical concerns remain key issues in the distribution of these medications.
The behavioural neurology of dementia
- Authors:
- MILLER Bruce L., BOEVE Bradley F.(eds.)
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 418p.
- Place of publication:
- Cambridge
This comprehensive textbook aims to bring clinicians up to date with the latest advances in of understanding of, and modern approaches to, the diagnosis and treatment of patients with dementing conditions. The coverage is broad, ranging from more common conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinsonian disorders, vascular and frontotemporal dementia, to the more obscure such as Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease. Subtypes of mild cognitive impairment are described and the early prodromes of neurodegenerative diseases are explored. Simple approaches to bedside mental status testing, differential diagnosis and treatment, genetic testing, interpreting neuropsychological testing and neuroimaging findings, assessing rapidly progressive dementias, paraneoplastic syndromes, and disorders of white matter are included. Twenty five individual contributions from a wide range of experts in the field are brought together into four main sections. Part 1 introduces the basic science of dementia in animal models, dementia epidemiology and dementia neuropathology. Part 2 covers cognitive impairment, Part 3 slowly progressive dementias and Part 4 rapidly progressive dementias. Also included are suggestions for future work, highlighting areas that are in need of more research.
Knowledge and beliefs about help-seeking behavior and helpfulness of interventions for Alzheimer's disease
- Authors:
- BLAY Sergio L., FURTADO Ariane, PELUSO Erica T. P.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 12(5), September 2008, pp.577-586.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The lay public's attitudes toward help seeking and preferences for treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the city of So Paulo, Brazil was investigated. Cross-sectional population-based random sample of 500 household residents over 18 years old participated in face-to-face interviews in So Paulo, which included a case vignette depicting AD and a structured questionnaire were used. Public opinion rests firmly in the lay support system. Psychologists and self-help groups and close relatives were often rated as helpful. Many alternative treatments (such as vitamins, physical exercise, vacation) were often rated as helpful. Limited education, younger age and experience with psychiatric problems are associated with the 'medical' intervention model. Female sex and middle age are associated with 'alternative' interventions. The results suggest that attitudes and belief systems have an important impact on help-seeking and treatment recommendations.
Comparison of three rating scales as outcome measures for treatment trials of depression in Alzheimer disease: findings from DIADS
- Authors:
- MAYER Lawrence S., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 21(10), October 2006, pp.930-936.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Major depression affects about 25% of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and has serious adverse consequences for patients as well as caregivers. Studies of treatments for depression in AD, like most treatment studies, depend on the ability of the scales used to measure outcome to detect a difference between the effects of treatment and control, particularly in trials conducted over waves. The aim was to compare the ability of three depression scales, and some of their subscales, to detect the difference in the effects of drug (treatment) and placebo (control). Comparison of three scales of depression in terms of percent variance explained as indicated by the adjusted or partial eta-squared for the effect of drug versus placebo, controlling for baseline depression, in a randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel, 12-week, clinical trial of sertraline for the treatment of depression with AD. Participants were forty-four patients with probable Alzheimer's disease and Major Depressive Episode. The Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and the Neuropsychiatric-Inventory Mood Domains (NPI-M). Examination of the treatment effects as indicated by the partial eta-squared's for each scale at each wave, revealed a slight, but not significant, advantage for the use of the CSDD over the HDRS, and a significant advantage for the use of either of these over the NPI-M. Treatment effects, as reflected in the partial eta-squared's computed for the subscales at each wave, were significant for all four subscales, and were largest for the CSDD mood subscale although they were not significantly greater than for the other subscales. The CSDD, and particularly its mood subscale, appears to be more sensitive than the HDRS, it's subscales or the NPI-M, for comparing drug to placebo in treating major depression in AD patients. Treatment effects as reflected in the partial eta-squared's were largest on the CSDD mood subscale and increased over time. The pattern for the other subscales was non-monotonic over waves and resembled the pattern for the entire scale. Perhaps combining the CSDD two subscales obscures the treatment effects for the separate subscales.
A memory like clockwork: accounts of living through dementia
- Author:
- GILLIES B.A.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 4(4), November 2000, pp.366-374.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The opportunities open to individuals with dementia to describe their experience and there by influence their treatment and care have hitherto been limited by a perception of assumed inability and incompetence, rendering such contributions as invalid or at best unreliable. Recently, more attention has been focused on the value of finding an appropriate means of harnessing such experiences and examining what can be learned from listening to subjective accounts. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of the experiences of 20 individuals diagnosed with dementia. In the absence of a shared diagnosis, however, these individuals contextualised their experiences in the normality of old age. Their accounts offer insight into the impact and frustrations of living with a failing memory and the challenges of the aging process, the meaning they attached to what was happening to them, and how they attempted to cope with the assaults on their self-esteem brought about by a growing sense of failure, incompetence and letting down those closest to them.
What depressive symptoms are reported in Alzheimer's patients?
- Authors:
- WEINER Myron F., SVETLIK Doris, RISSER Richard C.
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 12(6), June 1997, pp.648-652.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Reports on a study to investigate the nature of depression-related symptoms in Alzheimers Disease. Results found that there was no relationship between the number of symptoms reported by patients or caregivers and patients' level of cognitive impairment. Concludes that depressive symptoms may not signify depression, but may reflect the loss of executive function that accompanies Alzheimers Disease itself. Suggests that simple environmental measures might be the most appropriate treatment of these symptoms.