title: Rate of progression in familial Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: The clinical course of early-onset, dominantly inherited, familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) was contrasted with late-onset, sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). Eight FAD and 23 sporadic AD patients were followed over a mean of 63 months from estimated disease onset. The two groups did not differ notably in duration of symptoms from onset, global disease severity, or degree of cognitive deficits on initial evaluation. The Kaplan-Meier lifetable method was used to assess time from estimated disease onset to dependence in self-care, institutionalization, and death. A greater percentage of FAD patients became dependent in self-care and died earlier than did sporadic AD patients. The lifetable results suggest that FAD may have a more rapid course than dose late-onset sporadic AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worchester 01655, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Swearer
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ingram
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Drachman
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification* / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005799:Genes, Dominant / Q000235:genetics*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010375:Pedigree; D015996:Survival Rate