Is it Alzheimer's disease or another dementia? Marker may give more accurate diagnosis
November 30, 2011 in Alzheimer's disease & dementiaNew research finds a marker used to detect plaque in the brain may help doctors make a more accurate diagnosis between two common types of dementia Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). The study is published in the November 30, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
"These two types of dementia share similar symptoms, so telling the two apart while a person is living is a real challenge, but important so doctors can determine the best form of treatment," said study author Gil D. Rabinovici, MD, of the University of California San Francisco Memory and Aging Center and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the study, 107 people with early onset Alzheimer's disease or FTLD underwent a brain PET scan using a PIB marker, which detects amyloid or plaque in the brain that is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease but not related to FTLD. The participants underwent another PET scan using a FDG marker, which detects changes in the brain's metabolism and is currently used to help differentiate between the two types of dementia.
The study found the PIB PET scan performed at least as well as the FDG PET scan in differentiating between Alzheimer's disease and FTLD, but had higher sensitivity and better accuracy and precision with its qualitative readings. The study found PIB had a sensitivity of 89.5 percent compared to 77.5 percent for FDG.
"While widespread use of PIB PET scans isn't available at this time, similar amyloid markers are being developed for clinical use, and these findings support a role for amyloid imaging in correctly diagnosing Alzheimer's disease versus FTLD," said Rabinovici.
Provided by
American Academy of Neurology
-
Imaging test detects Alzheimer's disease that is likely to progress
Dec 15, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Neuroimaging may shed light on how Alzheimer's disease develops
Jan 11, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Brain imaging study supports the 'cognitive reserve' hypothesis
Nov 10, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Alzheimer's-like brain changes found in cognitively normal elders with amyloid plaques
Mar 30, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Case study on Alzheimer's disease looks at progression before and after death
Dec 14, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse
May 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Limits to growth: Scientists identify key metastasis-enabling enzyme
May 22, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
-
Seeing is as seeing does: Spatially-structured retinal input in early development of cortical maps
Apr 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Dreamless nights: Brain activity during nonrapid eye movement sleep
Apr 09, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
0
-
Take your time: Neurobiology sheds light on the superiority of spaced vs. massed learning
Mar 28, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (21) |
3
-
Force in a magnetic coupling
5 hours ago
-
Sign of scalar product in electric potential integral?
12 hours ago
-
Heat engines: how can we yield work?
12 hours ago
-
What capacitors to use in a Tesla coil...?
22 hours ago
-
Work done by us on the spring
May 25, 2012
-
Surface current density
May 25, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Classical Physics
More news stories
Family history of Alzheimer's affects functional connectivity
(HealthDay) -- Cognitively normal individuals with a family history of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) may display lower resting state functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain, ...
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
First study to suggest that the immune system may protect against Alzheimer's changes in humans
Recent work in mice suggested that the immune system is involved in removing beta-amyloid, the main Alzheimer's-causing substance in the brain. Researchers have now shown for the first time that this may apply in humans.
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
May 25, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
|
The search for the earliest signs of Alzheimer's
(Medical Xpress) -- For the past five years, volunteers from the City of Berkeley and surrounding areas have come to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to participate in an ongoing study thats changing ...
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
May 24, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
New estimates up dementia rates in mid-income countries
(HealthDay) -- Use of 10/66 dementia diagnosis criteria (10/66) results in an increase in the estimated incidence of dementia in middle-income countries, according to a study published online May 23 in The La ...
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
May 24, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Pathological aging brains contain the same amyloid plaques as Alzheimer's disease
Pathological aging (PA) is used to describe the brains of people which have Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like pathology but where the person showed no signs of cognitive impairment whilst they were alive. New research, published ...
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
May 23, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
Travel to high altitudes tied to Crohn's, colitis flare-ups
(HealthDay) -- People with inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and colitis, may be at increased risk for flare-ups when they fly or travel to high altitudes for skiing or mountain climbing, ...
Transvaginal mesh op restores pelvic organ prolapse at price
(HealthDay) -- Transvaginal mesh (TVM) procedures are effective for anatomical restoration of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), but patients report a worsening of sexual function following surgery, according to ...
Tongue analysis software uses ancient Chinese medicine to warn of disease
For 5,000 years, the Chinese have used a system of medicine based on the flow and balance of positive and negative energies in the body. In this system, the appearance of the tongue is one of the measures used to classify ...
Skp2 activates cancer-promoting, glucose-processing Akt
HER2 and its epidermal growth factor receptor cousins mobilize a specialized protein to activate a major player in cancer development and sugar metabolism, scientists report in the May 25 issue of Cell.
Early physical therapist treatment associated with reduced risk of healthcare utilization and reduced overall healthcare
A new study published in Spine shows that early treatment by a physical therapist for low back pain (LBP), as compared to delayed treatment, was associated with reduced risk of subsequent healthcare utilization and lower ...
New device allows pacemaker patients to safely undergo MRIs
For many, it's a medical conundrum: The very pacemaker keeping their heart in rhythm prevents them from undergoing an MRI to diagnose other ailments, because interaction between the two devices could prove deadly.