Mental problems in an old person do not always mean Alzheimer's disease
Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 17:42
in Health & Medicine
The case of an elderly woman who had mental problems associated with Alzheimer's disease, but turned out to have treatable limbic encephalitis, is detailed in a Case Report in this week's edition of The Lancet. The case is important because, with rapidly increasing numbers of elderly people worldwide, it is important that when they present with such symptoms they are correctly diagnosed and not just assumed to have Alzheimer's disease (or typical dementia). The Case Report is written by Dr Nathalie Costedoat-Chalumeau, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pitie-Salpetriere, Paris, France, and colleagues.