Details about Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disorders
Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disorders PDF free download – Neurodegenerative diseases comprise a broad swath of different neurologic diseases, all of which have one thing in common: the pathology is ultimately the loss of neurons in the central nervous system. Onset can be acute but is more often chronic, and the symptoms tend to get progressively worse over time. The diseases are difficult to talk about broadly because they manifest with such a myriad of signs and symptoms. The most common neurodegenerative disease is the dementing disease of Alzheimer’s. There are many other dementing diseases as well that affect different parts of the brain, causing different symptoms. Dementia is commonly understood as the loss of function of at least two cognitive domains that is severe enough to cause loss of daily function in social or occupational spheres.1 Some neurodegenerative diseases are primarily motor disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The underlying cause of the neuronal loss that ties these diseases together is different in each case. Some diseases are caused primarily by proteins, for example through abnormal accumulation or misfolding. These protein accumulations disrupt the normal function of the cells and ultimately lead to cell death. Examples of these “proteinopathies” include tau, amyloid, TDP-43, and α-synuclein. Some overlap is seen between diseases and pathologies, but overall pathology is usually distinctive enough for a definitive diagnosis. Other neurodegenerative diseases are caused by inflammation or infection, toxins, or vitamin deficiencies. Some diseases are primarily genetic, caused by deletions or trinucleotide repetitions. This is where we are now in understanding these diseases.