Additional tests needed to diagnose mixed pathology dementia

More tests are needed to improve the diagnosis of dementia when a mixed pathology is present.

This is the opinion of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

The academics explained that differentiating a condition such as Alzheimer's disease from frontotemporal lobar degeneration, for instance, is difficult as they share common symptoms and often occur at the same time.

Consequently, additional tests are needed to distinguish the forms of dementia a person experiences if there is to be a hope of delivering properly targeted medication and treatment.

Dr John Q Trojanowski, senior author of the study, commented: "With the emergence of disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, it will be of utmost importance to accurately identify the underlying neuropathology in patients."

The call from the team of Pennsylvania researchers follows a study that claims imaging techniques could help differentiate between a person who has Parkinson's disease dementia and one who has both Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease dementia.

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