title: Common versus uncommon causes of dementia.
abstract: When patients present with a dementia syndrome at a young age, the experienced clinician will automatically include uncommon dementias in the diagnostic considerations, as familial uncommon dementias due to genetic mutations frequently present as early-onset dementias. This paper highlights why uncommon dementias due to genetic mutations, although marginal in terms of prevalence numbers in the total population, are of significance in the quest to unravel the underlying cause of common dementias such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), frontotemporal dementias (FTD) and vascular dementia (VaD).
authors.affiliation: University of Western Australia, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, Mail Delivery Point M573, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia. nicolal@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
authors.forename: Nicola T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Lautenschlager
authors.forename: Ralph N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Martins
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology; D046589:CADASIL / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D020961:Lewy Body Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology