Useful information about the conditions we treat:
This is the most common dementia with around 500,000 sufferers in the UK. The disease accounts for 50 to 70% of all dementia, and one in three over the age of 85 are thought to have the disease. Alzheimer's disease usually affects those in old age; however the disease can affect those under 65 (early-onset Alzheimer's).
This is a dementia caused by damage to the frontal or temporal lobes of the brain. The disease usually presents with behavioural disturbances (for example stubbornness, apathy and reduced inhibition) and predominantly preserved memory. It usually affects patients aged 45 to 65, with men and women equally likely to be affected.
This is a progressive degenerative disease which is characterised by movement difficulties of rigidity, slowing of movement (bradykinesia) and difficulty in making a limb follow commands (apraxia). Often these movement symptoms are accompanied by cognitive difficulties, with both movement and cognitive symptoms commonly presenting together after around two years. It usually affects patients aged 45 to 70.
This is a rare hereditary degenerative disorder of the brain which affects the movement and the cognition of sufferers. Symptoms often present as a combination of motor (movement), behavioural (mood) and cognitive (thinking) disturbances. It affects up to 1 in 10,000 people in Europe, with men and women equally likely to inherit the disease.
This is a dementia caused by abnormal clumps of proteins in the brain called Lewy bodies. These clumps are also found in Parkinson’s disease. Patients with the disease show varying symptoms, however a decline in cognition in conjunction with movement difficulties similar to those found in Parkinson’s disease is common.
This is a problem where memory is affected, however not at a level which affects daily functioning (unlike Alzheimer’s disease). These memory problems are mild with subtle changes in day to day memory, language, attention or visual spatial skills. The mild cognitive impairment can stay stable for many years; however it often progresses to Alzheimer’s disease.
Parkinson's disease is caused by a loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra. This leads to a reduction in a chemical called dopamine which plays a vital role in regulating the movement of the body. A reduction in dopamine is responsible for many of the symptoms of the disease. Exactly what causes the loss of nerve cells is unclear, however, most experts think that a combination of genetic and environmental factors is responsible.
This is a type of frontotemporal dementia where overall language function is affected without an obvious disease cause. As the disease progresses a steady cognitive decline occurs, with language dysfunction being the most quickly deteriorating feature of the disease. Memory is usually predominantly preserved throughout the disease, which distinguishes it from Alzheimer’s disease and other frontotemporal dementias such as behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia. The most common forms of primary progressive aphasia are progressive non-fluent aphasia and semantic dementia.
This is a neurodegenerative disease associated with profound slowing of movement, affecting walking and the eyes, as well as cognitive difficulties. The disease primarily affects those in middle age and is rare.
This is a form of dementia caused by damaged blood vessels in the brain which reduce the amount of blood supplied to the brain. A range of symptoms can be experienced by those with vascular dementia and these can often be similar to those of Alzheimer’s disease. The disease progresses slowly with gradual deterioration of memory and other cognitive functions.