Alzheimer's disease versus Vascular dementia, a comparative study

Abstract

Dementia, in one definition, is an organic brain syndrome characterized by an acquired decrement of intellectual abilities sufficiently severe 'to impair social or occupational performance or both, a fully developed case features impairment of memory, abstract thinking and judgement and some degree of personality changes that is either an accentuation or an alteration of the patient's habitual character traits. The disorder is usually progressive and is caused by widespread cerebral damage or dysfunction.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia accounting I for 50 to 60 percent of cases. The second most c_ommon type of

dementia is vascular dementia, which is causally related to cerebrovascular diseases. Vascular dementia accounts for 15 to 30 percent of all dementia cases in the western world, in Japan, VD is responsible for more than 50 %of all dementia cases. Unlike AD, it may be possible to arrest the progression of VD. Therefore, the accurate differentiation between AD and VD is essential.

Apolipoprotein E cpsilon4 is the most prominent genetic factor implicated in the risk of developing AD, while epsilon2 might confer a protective effect. Several factors interact with Apolipoprotein E in determining the risk of developing AD, these factors include age (where a reduced association in late old age between E4 and AD was observcd), sex (where a stronger APOE E4-AD association in women than men was suggested by many studies) and cthnicity.