Dx Dialogues: overlapping symptomatology of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders

Monica Parker, MD, discusses the overlapping symptomatology of neurodegenerative disorders.

Transcript

00:00

I think we know a lot more today than we did 10 years ago, or even 20 years ago, certainly

00:06

from the perspective that there are a lot of overlapping conditions that need to be managed

00:17

and understanding that these underlying overlapping clinical conditions can exacerbate symptoms that

00:24

go along with cognitive impairment or memory loss and making sure that we do everything we can to uncover anything that's overlapping

00:33

is really, really important. There's still a nuance to evaluating and getting the best diagnosis for people.

00:39

A lot of the dementing disorders, or neurodegenerative processes, have the same symptomatology. So if I have Lewy body dementia I may be a little bit younger,

00:50

but my symptoms of cognitive dysfunction, inability to think and process information may look like somebody with Alzheimer's, but the treatment is different,

00:58

the pathology is different. So I think the thing that's new in research and clinical care

01:05

is that we understand that there are several different neurodegenerative disorders that

01:11

have the same symptomatology. [HEARTBEAT] [INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]