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Biomedical subjects

J Aharon-Peretz

Publications and source records attributed to J Aharon-Peretz.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic cardiac innervation in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

To assess whether Alzheimer's disease affects the sympathetic and parasympathetic influences on the heart rate, we used power spectrum analysis of heart rate variability derived from simple body-surface electrocardiography. We calculated the energy ratio of low- to high-frequency bands. This ratio was significantly higher in patients with Alzheimer's disease than in normal controls (upright posture, 0.41 +/- 0.21 vs 0.23 +/- 0.08). The parasympathetically mediated baroreceptor activity reflected by the energy ratio of medium- to low- and high-frequency bands was significantly depressed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (upright posture, 0.12 +/- 0.02 vs 0.07 +/- 0.03; supine posture, 0.11 +/- 0.02 vs 0.085 +/- 0.025). Compared with normal volunteer controls, patients with Alzheimer's disease manifested a relatively hypersympathetic, hypoparasympathetic state.

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PubMed1991

Sleep-wake cycles in multi-infarct dementia and dementia of the Alzheimer type.

We monitored by actigraphs minute-by-minute activity of 10 patients with multi-infarct dementia (MID), 15 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT), and 11 control volunteers for eight consecutive 24-hour periods to assess sleep-wake cycles and sleep quality. MID patients had disrupted sleep-wake cycles associated with decreased sleep quality. In contrast, ambulatory DAT patients maintained a relatively normal sleep-wake cycle that did not differ significantly from controls. There was no correlation between the severity of intellectual deterioration and the degree of sleep-wake cycle disintegration in either group of dementia patients.

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PubMed1988

Vascular dementia and dementia of the Alzheimer type. Cognition, ventricular size, and leuko-araiosis.

Multi-infarct dementia (MID) and dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) were compared with regard to ventricular size and leuko-araiosis (LA) on computed tomographic scans. Ninety-seven percent of patients with MID and 55.5% of patients with DAT had evidence of LA. The severity of LA was scored with a 0 through 4 rating system, and LA was found to be significantly more severe in patients with MID than in patients with DAT. Patients with MID, but not those with DAT, exhibited correlations between enlargement of the third and lateral ventricles and severity of cognitive impairment.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Germline mutational analysis of presenilin 1 and APP genes in Jewish-Israeli individuals with familial or early-onset Alzheimer disease using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE).

Germ line mutations in three genes have been detected in patients with familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) and sporadic, early onset disease: amyloid precursor protein (APP), presenilin 1 (PS-1), and presenilin 2 (PS-2). The relative proportions in which mutations in these genes occur among AD patients in Israel has not been evaluated. To that end, we screened 52 Jewish-Israeli patients with AD: 22 with sporadic, early-onset disease (below 65 years), and 30 with FAD. Mutation screen employed denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of exon-specific PCRs and restriction enzyme digest. Five patients from three different families displayed mutations within the PS-1 gene: three patients of one family showed a mis-sense mutation in codon 120 (Glu 120Lys), and two other unrelated patients showed an identical mis-sense mutation in codon 318 (Glu318Gly). No patient showed an abnormal migration on DGGE (for APP) or mutant restriction digest pattern (for PS-2) genes. These data may indicate the existence of another familial Alzheimer disease (FAD) gene locus in the Israeli Jewish population.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Posterior cortical atrophy variants of Alzheimer's disease.

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) was first described by Benson in 1988 and, since then, has been regarded as a variant of Alzheimer's disease. We present 2 patients with symptoms suggestive of PCA and 2 patients with apraxia as the initial manifestation. Primary motor and sensory modalities were intact. Mild memory impairment was present early in the course of the disease and gradually worsened. Parieto-occipital atrophy was evident on brain MRI. HMPAO-SPECT demonstrated parieto-occipital hypoperfusion significantly different from the temporoparietal hypoperfusion usually described in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. These findings suggest that HMPAO-SPECT can help in diagnosing atypical variants of Alzheimer's disease. We suggest that PCA represents two clinically related behavioral phenotypes: PCA with predominantly apraxia manifestations and PCA with predominantly visuospatial disturbances. Copyrightz1999S.KargerAG,Basel

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PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioral differences between white matter lacunar dementia and Alzheimer's disease: a comparison on the neuropsychiatric inventory.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Behavioral abnormalities account for much of the morbidity of vascular dementia (VaD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The goals of the study were to compare the behavioral changes in patients with VaD associated with ischemic white matter subcortical changes and lacunar infarctions (VaD-WSI) to those in patients with AD. METHODS: Thirty outpatients with VaD and multiple lacunar infarctions in the periventricular white matter and 30 AD patients, matched for age and severity of dementia, were enrolled in this prospective study. The behavioral abnormalities of these patients were assessed by interviewing their caregivers with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. RESULTS: A similar spectrum of noncognitive behavioral changes was found in AD and WSI patients. In VaD-WSI, the severity of delusions, hallucinations, aggression, irritability, aberrant motor behavior, nighttime behavior and appetite changes was correlated with cognitive decline, whereas depression, apathy, anxiety and euphoria were unrelated to the severity of dementia. In AD, none of the behavioral changes correlated with the severity of dementia. CONCLUSION: Behavioral changes are frequent in VaD-WSI and are present regardless of the severity of the cognitive decline. It is therefore important to assess behavioral as well as cognitive changes at early stages of the illness, to ensure appropriate treatment.

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