There are a number of ways in which a clinical diagnosis of dementia of the Alzheimer type can be made – the application of clinical criteria is the commonest but ancillary techniques such as neuroima

Clinical Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

Dietary fatty acids - the N-6/N-3 balance and chronic elderly diseases. Excess linoleic acid and relative N-3 deficiency syndrome seen in Japan

In this review, we attempt to outline the age-dependent interactions of principal systems controlling the structure and function of the cardiovascular system in immature rats developing hypertensio...

Ontogenetic aspects of hypertension development: analysis in the rat.

Context. —A few ecological and cohort studies in Asian populations suggest an inverse association of the intake of both fat and saturated fat with risk of stroke. However, data among western populations are scant. Objective. —To examine the association of stroke incidence with intake of fat and type of fat among middle-aged US men during 20 years of follow-up. Design and Setting. —The Framingham Heart Study, a population-based cohort study. Participants. —A total of 832 men, aged 45 through 65 years, who were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline (1966-1969). Measurements and Data Analysis. —The diet of each subject was assessed at baseline by a single 24-hour dietary recall, from which intakes of energy and macronutrients were estimated. In Kaplan-Meier analyses, we calculated age-adjusted cumulative incidence rates of stroke. Using Cox regression, we estimated stroke incidence relative risks during 20 years of follow-up. Main Outcome Measure. —Incidence of ischemic stroke, which occurred in 61 subjects during the follow-up period. Results. —Mean intakes were 10 975 kJ for energy; 114 g (39% of energy) for total fat; 44 g (15%) for saturated fat; 46 g (16%) for monounsaturated fat; and 16 g (5%) for polyunsaturated fat. Risk of ischemic stroke declined across the increasing quintile of total fat (log-rank trend P =.008), saturatedfat( P =.002), and monounsaturated fat ( P =.008) but not polyunsaturated fat ( P =.33). The age- and energy-adjusted relative risk for each increment of 3% of energy from total fat was 0.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78-0.94); for an increment of 1% from saturated fat, 0.91 (95% CI, 0.85-0.98); and for 1% from monounsaturated fat, 0.89 (95% CI, 0.83-0.96). Adjustment for cigarette smoking, glucose intolerance, body mass index, blood pressure, blood cholesterol level, physical activity, and intake of vegetables and fruits and alcohol did not materially change the results. Too few cases of hemorrhagic stroke (n=14) occurred to draw inferences. Conclusion. —Intakes of fat, saturated fat, and monounsaturated fat were associated with reduced risk of ischemic stroke in men.

Inverse Association of Dietary Fat With Development of Ischemic Stroke in Men

The treatment of aphasias-acquired language disorders-caused by stroke and other neurological conditions has benefitted from insights from neuroscience and neuropsychology. Hebbian mechanisms suggest that massed practice and exploitation of residual neurological capacities can aid neurorehabilitation of patients with poststroke aphasia, and progress in basic neuroscience research indicates that the language system of the human brain is functionally interwoven with perceptual and motor systems. Intensive speech and language therapies, including constraint-induced aphasia therapy, that activate both the linguistic and concordant motor circuits utilize the knowledge gained from these advances in neuroscience research and can lead to surprisingly rapid improvements in language performance, even in patients with chronic aphasia. Drug-based therapies alone and in conjunction with behavioral language therapies also increase language performance in patients with aphasia. Furthermore, noninvasive transcranial magnetic stimulation and electrical stimulation techniques that target neuronal activity within perilesional areas might help patients with aphasia to regain lost language functions. Intensive language-action therapies that lead to rapid improvements in language skills might provide a new opportunity for investigating fast plastic neuronal changes in the areas of the brain associated with language processing. Here, we review progress in basic neuroscience research and its translational impact on the neurorehabilitation of language disorders after stroke.

Neuroscience insights improve neurorehabilitation of poststroke aphasia.

Effect of dietary alpha-linolenate/linoleate balance on mean survival time, incidence of stroke and blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Effects of bifemelane hydrochloride on cerebral circulation and metabolism in patients with aphasia.

CADASIL with NOTCH3 S180C presenting anticipation of onset age and hallucinations.

A system for assessing dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) from electroencephalogram (EEG) data by means of fuzzy neural networks (FNNs) was investigated. The system consisted of two FNN models, one to discriminate DAT patients from normal subjects and the other to estimate the severity of the DAT patients' symptoms. EEG data were collected using 15 electrodes attached to the scalp. The power spectra were calculated by the fast Fourier transform. For each electrode, the power spectrum was divided into 9 frequency bands and relative power values were calculated. The θ1 (4.0-6.0 Hz), θ2 (6.0-8.0 Hz), and α (8.0-13.0 Hz) band data were used as the network input values. DAT severity was assessed by the Mini-Mental State (MMS) examination administered to each patient and the results were used as the output. The FNN model for DAT patient discrimination correctly distinguished 94% of the DAT patients from normal subjects. The FNN model for severity estimation gave an average error of 2.57 points out of 30 in the MMS scores. The FNNs were found to be useful tools for discrminating DAT patients from normal subjects as well as for estimating quantitatively the severity of DAT symptoms from EEG data.

Fuzzy Neural Network Model for Assessment of Alzheimer-Type Dementia

A 48-year-old man with no known risk factor for cerebrovascular disease, other than cigarette smoking, experienced the sudden onset of a mixed lateral and medial medullary syndrome. Computed tomography scan failed to show any definite abnormality. Magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed hemorrhage restricted to the left dorsolateral medulla. Angiography showed abnormal arteries originating from the left vertebral artery with small niduses located on the surface of the medulla and contralateral cerebellum. Small brain-stem hemorrhages are a contraindication to thrombolytic or anticoagulant therapy, and therefore must be recognized in the acute stage.

Michitaka Matsubara

Papers

Effect of dietary alpha-linolenate/linoleate balance on mean survival time, incidence of stroke and blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Effects of bifemelane hydrochloride on cerebral circulation and metabolism in patients with aphasia.

CADASIL with NOTCH3 S180C presenting anticipation of onset age and hallucinations.

Fuzzy Neural Network Model for Assessment of Alzheimer-Type Dementia

Intramedullary hemorrhage caused by arteriovenous malformation: A case of mixed lateral and medial medullary syndrome *