OnlineMedEd: Neurology - Dementia Flashcards
How is amnesia different from dementia and delirium?
Dementia and delirium can present with cognitive impairment, but amnesia cannot.
Delirium is distinguished by _________________.
its acute onset and waxing and waning of symptoms
Describe normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia.
•Normal aging:
- Will not test positive for cognitive dementia screens
- Maintains functionality
•Mild cognitive impairment:
- Will test positive on cognitive screens
- Maintains functionality
• Dementia:
- Will test positive
- Not maintaining funcitonality
List seven medical causes of dementia that you need to screen for.
- Hypothyroidism
- B12 deficiency
- Depression
- Neurosyphilis
- Cirrhosis
- Renal failure
- Normal pressure hydrocephalus
Describe the onset of Alzheimer’s.
A chronic, insidious disease that spares social graces
CTs of those with Alzheimer’s often show ____________.
diffuse cortical atrophy
In Pick’s disease, the ____________ goes first.
personality (i.e., the memory is usually spared)
List the drugs that are given to decrease symptom severity in Alzheimer’s.
- Donepezil
- Galantamine (generally second-line because of GI side effects)
- Tacrine (generally second-line because of hepatotoxicity)
What is Lewy body dementia?
A Lewy body disorder that presents with Parkinson’s disease and dementia
The classic presentation of vascular dementia is ______________.
stepwise worsening of symptoms
Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is treated with ______________.
ventriculoperitoneal shunts
True or false: hydrocephalus in a CT scan of a demented patient is strongly suggestive of NPH.
False.
Older people generally have diffuse cortical atrophy. When the brain shrinks, the ventricles enlarge to compensate. Thus, many older people will have enlarged ventricles and this finding is not diagnostic of NPH.
