Differentiating Alzheimer's disease from other diseases

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief:

Overview

Alzheimer's disease may be differentiated from other causes of dementia based on characteristic clinical and cognitive features.

Differentiating Alzheimer's disease from other Diseases

• Alzheimer's disease may be differentiated from other causes of dementia based on characteristic clinical and cognitive features:

Cause of dementia	Clinical features											Associated features	Nature of progression	Histopathological findings
	Cognitive impairment
	Recall	Recollection	Cue requirement for recall	Infirngement of thoughts	Semantic memory	Procedural memory	Working memory	Awareness	Attention	Executive functioning issues	Visuo-spatial skills
Alzheimer's disease	Slow cognitive and functional decline with early loss of awareness												Has the following clinical stages: Pre-clinical Mild cognitive impairment Advanced dementia (full blown dementia)
Lewy body dementia	Spectrum of disorders with movement, cognitive, . Includes dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease dementia.											Early visual hallucinations Muscle rigidity Sleep disturbance Autonomic changes		α-synuclein deposits present in neurons
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration												Onset in young age Strong familial association Focal atrophy of frontal and temporal lobes Knife-edge atrophy noted on MRI Personality and behavioral changes Language impairment
Vascular dementia	Dysexecutive syndrome, slowed processing speed, retrieval difficulties, depression, mild motor signs in subcortical vascular dementia. Symptoms overlap with alzheimer's disease.												Stepwise progression and focal neurologic signs (also known as multi-infarct dementia or poststroke dementia)