[Paradoxical lucidity and personal identity in patients with advanced dementia: change of paradigm?] / Lucidez paradójica e identidad personal en pacientes con demencia avanzada: ¿cambio de paradigma?

In this article we approach the concept of paradoxical lucidity (LP) (an unexpected, spontaneous, significant and relevant episode of communication or connection) in persons with advanced dementia. The existence of LP could change the paradigm of dementia as a degenerative, chronic, progressive and irreversible disease (where neuronal death plays the leading role), towards a model where functional deficits of neuronal networks acquire importance, which raises new potentially reversible therapeutic and rehabilitative possibilities. We analyze the ethical consequences that these episodes may have with respect to the implicated persons (patients, caregivers and professionals in charge of their care) and try to answer the following question: Do persons with advanced dementia continue to maintain their personal identity despite suffering cognitive impairment so severe?. The LP indicates that this is possible. In this work we make a transversal outline of the different concepts and theories of personal identity in these patients, from different areas of knowledge (philosophy, psychology, neuroscience).

The Genetic Research in Alzheimer Disease (GERALD) Initiative Finds rs9320913 as a Neural eQTL of lincRNA AL589740.1.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia worldwide, and longitudinal studies are crucial to find the factors affecting disease development. Here, we describe a novel initiative from southern Spain designed to contribute in the identification of the genetic component of the cognitive decline of Alzheimer's disease patients. The germline variant rs9320913 is a C>A substitution mapping within a gene desert. Although it has been previously associated to a higher educational achievement and increased fluid intelligence, its role on Alzheimer's disease risk and progression remains elusive. A total of 407 subjects were included in the study, comprising 153 Alzheimer disease patients and 254 healthy controls. We have explored the rs9320913 contribution to both Alzheimer disease risk and progression according to the Mini-Mental State Exams. We found that rs9320913 maps within a central nervous system lincRNA AL589740.1. eQTL results show that rs9320913 correlated with the brain-frontal cortex (beta = -0.15, p value = 0.057) and brain-spinal cord (beta of -0.23, p value = 0.037). We did not find rs9320913 to be associated to AD risk, although AA patients seemed to exhibit a less pronounced Mini-Mental State Exam score decline.

[Pain and unexpressed symptoms: the other dementia]. / Dolor y síntomas no expresados: la otra demencia.

Patients with advanced dementia are biologically, socially and personally highly vulnerable. The care of these patients is a challenge in terms of both the quantity of care required and qualitative aspects (the need for specific and adapted approaches). The advanced phases of dementia are characterized by severe speech impairment, loss of mobility, and feeding and nutritional alterations (in patients with severe cognitive and functional impairment). Problems of recognition and verbal expression of sensations hampers the diagnostic and therapeutic approach. This article briefly reviews the clinical characteristics of the symptoms and syndromes prevalent in these patients (pain, neuropsychiatric symptoms, delirium, epilepsy) and emphasizes the general principles for prevention and therapeutic approaches.

[Delirium and dementia]. / Delirium y demencia.

Delirium and dementia are highly prevalent neurocognitive syndromes in the elderly. These syndromes are defined by level of consciousness, clinical onset, and potential reversibility, etc. Frequently, both syndromes coincide in the elderly patient and share many epidemiologic, pathogenic and clinical features, which are reviewed in this article. There is no solid scientific evidence that explains the association between delirium and dementia. The present article proposes a change of paradigm in the diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic approach to delirium in the elderly that recognizes the inherent complexity of this geriatric syndrome and, unlike dichotomic models, explores the complex interrelations between both geriatric syndromes. Delirium is viewed as an important model to investigate cognitive disorders and dementia.