Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
-
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Sep 2003
Effect of a multidisciplinary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) clinic on ALS survival: a population based study, 1996-2000.
In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in the method of healthcare delivery to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients with the emergence of multidisciplinary ALS clinics that cater exclusively for patients with this condition. The impact of multidisciplinary management has not been previously evaluated. ⋯ ALS patients who received their care at a multidisciplinary clinic had a better prognosis than patients attending a general neurology clinic. The data suggest that active and aggressive management enhances survival, particularly among ALS patients with bulbar dysfunction. The effect of clinic type must be considered in future clinical trials design.
-
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Sep 2003
Predictors of institutionalisation in people with dementia.
To identify what patient and carer characteristics influence transition into residential care for people with dementia. ⋯ These findings powerfully illustrate the pivotal role carried out by carers of people with dementia; interventions directly targeted at helping them to maintain this role would be supported by these data. These data also suggest that strategies directed at improving carer quality of life and at the resolution of behavioural disorder in the person with dementia may also have particular value.
-
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Sep 2003
CSF galanin and cognition after shunt surgery in normal pressure hydrocephalus.
"Normal" pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is associated with injury to neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems that recovers after surgery. This could be linked to changes in galanin, a neuropeptide with inhibitory effects on basal forebrain cognitive function. ⋯ The cognitive and clinical improvement after shunt implantation correlated with CSF galanin levels, suggesting that the distribution or function of this agent involves cerebral structures that have some potential for recovery. In this study, galanin was related to several cognitive functions that may be associated with the fronto-subcortical deficits underlying cognitive dysfunction in normal pressure hydrocephalus.
-
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Sep 2003
Comparative StudyPerformance on the dementia rating scale in Parkinson's disease with dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies: comparison with progressive supranuclear palsy and Alzheimer's disease.
The relation between dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD) is unknown. ⋯ The cognitive profiles of patients with DLB and PDD were similar, but they differed from those of patients with Alzheimer's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy. The cognitive pattern in DLB and PDD probably reflects the superimposition of subcortical deficits upon deficits typically associated with Alzheimer's disease.