Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-f46jp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-08T18:52:31.713Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Neurological Abnormalities Associated with Severity of Dementia in Alzheimer's Disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

F. Jacob Huff  and
John H. Growdon
F. Jacob Huff*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburg
John H. Growdon
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School at the Massachussets General Hospital
*
Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburg, 617 Eye and Ear Hospital, 230 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA U.S.A. 15213
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Abnormal findings on neurological examination were evaluated in 165 patients with a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease who attended a memory disorders clinic. Severity of dementia was measured by the Blessed Dementia Scale, and associations of abnormalities with dementia severity were evaluated using logistic regression. Presence of aphasia, apraxia, and primitive reflexes on neurological examination were strongly associated with severity, and weak associations were observed for abnormalities of muscle tone and gait. Among these associated neurological features, only aphasia and apraxia were present in mildly demented cases with sufficient frequency to suggest utility as diagnostic signs early in the course of the disease.

Type
Clinical and Therapeutic Issues
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 13 , Issue S4 , November 1986 , pp. 403 - 405
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1986

References

1.Corkin, S, Growdon, JH, Rasmussen, S.Parental age as a risk factor in Alzheimer’s disease. Annals of Neurology 1983; 13:674–676.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.McKhann, G, Drachman, D, Folstein, M, et al. Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease: Report of the NINCDS-ADRDA work group under the auspices of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurology (Cleveland) 1984; 34: 939–944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Hachinski, VC, lliff, LD, Phil, M, et al. Cerebral blood flow in dementia. Arch Neurol 1975; 32: 632–637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Huff, FJ, Growdon, JH, Corkin, S.Clinical profiles of Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical Neuropharmacology 1984; 7 (Suppl.1): S–175.Google Scholar
5.Blessed, G, Tomlinson, BE and Roth, M.The association between quantitative measures of dementia and of senile change in the cerebral gray matter of elderly subjects. British Journal of Psychiatry 1968; 114: 797–811.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Fienberg, SE.The Analysis of Cross-Classified Categorical Data, Second Edition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981: 96–105.Google Scholar
7.Tweedy, J, Reding, M, Garcia, C, et al. Significance of cortical disinhibition signs. Neurology (NY) 1982; 32: 169–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Roller, WC, Glatt, S, Wilson, RS, et al. Primitive reflexes and cognitive function in the elderly. Ann Neurol 1982; 12: 302–304.Google Scholar
9.Sjogren, H.Clinical analysis of morbus Alzheimer and Morbus Pick. In Sjogren, T, Sjogren, H, Lindgren AGH: Morbus Alzheimer and Morbus Pick: A Genetic, Clinical, and Patho-anatomical study. Acta Psychiatrica et Neurologica Scandinavica 1952; Suppl. 82: 68–115.Google Scholar
10.Visser, H.Gait and balance in senile dementia of Alzheimer’s type. Age and Aging 1983; 12: 296–301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Potvin, AR, Syndulko, K, Tourtellotte, , et al. Human neurologic function and the aging process. J Am Geriatrics Society 1980; 28: 1–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed