• Alzheimer's disease - elderly man with family
    Neurology

    Alzheimer Disease

    Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia (now called major neurocognitive disorder) affecting as many as 5.8 million Americans in 2020 and this number is expected to triple to nearly 14 million by 2060. Pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition that occurs as a result of a buildup of amyloid protein in beta-pleated sheets along with tau protein. Pathology will reveal neuritic plaques, neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein, and extra-cellular deposition of amyloid beta-proteins. The brain in Alzheimer’s disease shows several changes including enlargement of ventricles, shrinkage of cerebral cortex and shrinkage of the hippocampus. One area of the brain that degenerates in Alzheimer’s…

  • Neurology,  Uncategorized

    Memory Disorders

    Terminology Declarative memory: Semantic declarative memory:remembering facts e.g. numbers and areas of knowledge e.g. language Episodic declarative memory: remembering the time and place Procedural memory: remembering how to do things e.g. ride a bicycle Short term memory: recent memory of events e.g. what you had for breakfast Immediate short term memory: Being able to recall a fact just told to you e.g. repeat the following phone number. Long term memory: remembering something from your childhood Aphasia: impaired language/ communication. Expressive aphasia (Broca’s): impaired language fluency, and repetition, normal comprehension Receptive aphasia (Wernicke): impaired comprehension and repetition but normal fluency. Conduction aphasia: impaired repetition but normal comprehension and fluency. Global aphasia:…

  • Psychiatry

    Depression due to an underlying medical condition

    Mood disorders can occur due to underlying medical conditions. To diagnose a mood disorder due to an underlying medical condition: the mood disorder has to have started after the onset of the medical condition and there needs to be evidence that the symptoms of the mood disorder are due to the medical condition – e.g. through the history, physical exam or lab findings. E.g. A young woman develops depressive episodes, a facial rash, oral ulcers, and headache. The depressive episodes started after the other symptoms. Labs show anti-dsDNA antibodies. Medical conditions that can cause depressive symptoms Systemic lupus erythematosus Stroke Huntington disease Traumatic brain injury Parkinson disease Myocardial infarction Cancer…