Special Section On Alzheimer's And Dementia

• Alzheimer's disease (AD)
Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in people aged 65 and older. Experts believe that up to 4 million people in the United States are currently living with the disease: one in ten people over the age of 65 and nearly half of those over 85 have AD. At least 360,000 Americans are diagnosed with AD each year and about 50,000 are reported to die from it.
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• Vascular dementia(VD)
Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia, after AD. It accounts for up to 20 percent of all dementias and is caused by brain damage from cerebrovascular or cardiovascular problems - usually strokes. It also may result from genetic diseases, endocarditis (infection of a heart valve), or amyloid angiopathy (a process in which amyloid protein builds up in the brain's blood vessels, sometimes causing hemorrhagic or "bleeding" strokes).
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• Dementia pugilistica(DP)
Dementia pugilistica, also called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or Boxer's syndrome , is caused by head trauma, such as that experienced by people who have been punched many times in the head during boxing. The most common symptoms of the condition are dementia and parkinsonism, which can appear many years after the trauma ends.
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• Lewy body dementia (LBD)
Lewy body dementia (LBD) is one of the most common types of progressive dementia. Lewy body dementia usually occurs sporadically, in people with no known family history of the disease. However, rare familial cases have occasionally been reported.
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• Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), sometimes called frontal lobe dementia, describes a group of diseases characterized by degeneration of nerve cells - especially those in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Unlike AD, FTD usually does not include formation of amyloid plaques. In many people with FTD, there is an abnormal form of tau protein in the brain, which accumulates into neurofibrillary tangles. This disrupts normal cell activities and may cause the cells to die.
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• Primary progressive aphasia (PPA)
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a type of Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), sometimes called frontal lobe dementia, that may begin in people as early as their forties. "Aphasia" is a general term used to refer to deficits in language functions, such as speaking, understanding what others are saying, and naming common objects. In Primary progressive aphasia one or more of these functions can become impaired.
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• HIV-associated dementia (HAD)
HIV-associated dementia (HAD) results from infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. HAD can cause widespread destruction of the brain's white matter. This leads to a type of dementia that generally includes impaired memory, apathy, social withdrawal, and difficulty concentrating. People with HIV-associated dementia often develop movement problems as well. There is no specific treatment for HAD, but AIDS drugs can delay onset of the disease and may help to reduce symptoms.
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• Huntington's disease (HD)
Huntington's disease (HD) results from genetically programmed degeneration of brain cells, called neurons, in certain areas of the brain. This degeneration causes uncontrolled movements, loss of intellectual faculties, and emotional disturbance. Huntington's Disease is a familial disease, passed from parent to child through a mutation in the normal gene.
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• Corticobasal degeneration (CBD)
Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a progressive disorder characterized by nerve cell loss and atrophy of multiple areas of the brain. Brain cells from people with CBD often have abnormal accumulations of the protein tau . CBD usually progresses gradually over the course of 6 to 8 years. Initial symptoms, which typically begin at or around age 60, may first appear on one side of the body but eventually will affect both sides.
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• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, degenerative, fatal brain disorder that affects about one in every million people per year worldwide. Symptoms usually begin after age 60 and most patients die within 1 year. Many researchers believe CJD results from an abnormal form of a protein called a prion. Most cases of CJD occur sporadically - that is, in people who have no known risk factors for the disease. However, about 5 to 10 percent of cases of CJD in the United States are hereditary, caused by a mutation in the gene for the prion protein.
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