Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2012
Is psycho-physical stress a risk factor for stroke? A case-control study.
Chronic stress is associated with cardiovascular diseases, but the link with stroke has not been well established. Stress is influenced by life-style habits, personality type and anxiety levels. We sought to evaluate psycho-physical stress as a risk factor for stroke, while assessing gender influences. ⋯ Compared with healthy age-matched individuals, stressful habits and type A behaviour are associated with high risk of stroke. This association is not modified by gender.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2012
Logopenic aphasia in Alzheimer's disease: clinical variant or clinical feature?
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a clinical syndrome characterised by progressive decline in components of the language system. Recent evidence suggests that the logopenic/phonological (LPA) variant is a reliable in vivo marker of Alzheimer related pathology. The aim of this study was to determine if patients with clinically typical early stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) display a characteristic language disorder that resembles LPA, or if LPA is a clinical manifestation of an atypical form of AD. ⋯ The impairment found in clinically typical early stage AD did not correspond consistently to the linguistic profiles described in any of the sub-syndromes of PPA. The only reliably distinguishing feature was a reduction across a range of syntactic complexity measures. The findings suggest that LPA represents an atypical clinical presentation of AD rather than a common clinical feature of typical AD.