Mixed Dementia

by The Alzheimer's Association:Mixed dementia is a condition in which abnormalities characteristic of more than one type of dementia occur simultaneously. Physicians may also call mixed dementia "Dementia – multifactorial."In the most common form of mixed dementia, the abnormal protein deposits associated with Alzheimer's disease coexist with blood vessel problems linked to vascular dementia. Alzheimer's brain changes also often coexist with Lewy bodies. In some cases, a person may have brain changes linked to all three conditions  — Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies.Researchers don't know exactly how many older adults currently diagnosed with a specific type of dementia actually have mixed dementia, but autopsies show that the condition may be significantly more common than previously realized.Autopsy studies play a key role in shedding light on mixed dementia because scientists can't yet measure most dementia-related brain changes in living individuals. In the most informative studies, researchers correlate each participant's cognitive health and any diagnosed problems during life with analysis of the brain after death.SymptomsMixed dementia symptoms may vary, depending on the types of brain changes involved and the brain regions affected. In many cases, symptoms may be similar to or even indistinguishable from those of Alzheimer's or another type of dementia. In other cases, a person's symptoms may suggest that more than one type of dementia is present.DiagnosisA diagnosis of mixed dementia comes after a brain autopsy. Most individuals whose autopsies show they had mixed dementia were diagnosed with one specific type of dementia during life, most commonly with Alzheimer's disease. For example, in the Memory and Aging Project study involving long-term cognitive assessments followed by eventual brain autopsy:

• 94 percent of participants who were diagnosed with dementia were diagnosed with Alzheimer's.The autopsies of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's showed that 54 percent had coexisting pathology.
• The most common coexisting abnormality was previously undetected blood clots or other evidence of vascular disease.
• Lewy bodies were the second most common coexisting abnormality.

Causes and risksAlthough mixed dementia is infrequently diagnosed during life, many researchers believe it deserves more attention because the combination of two or more types of dementia-related brain changes may have a greater impact on the brain than one type alone. Evidence suggests that the presence of more than one type of dementia-related change may increase the chances a person will develop symptoms.Source: http://www.alz.org/dementia/mixed-dementia-symptoms.asp