- With Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's disease specialist
Ronald Petersen, M.D.
Risk factors (2)
- Alzheimer's: Can a head injury increase my risk?
- Oophorectomy (ovary removal): A risk factor for dementia?
Symptoms (1)
- Sundowning: Late-day confusion
Tests and diagnosis (2)
- Rapid-onset Alzheimer's: Could it be something else?
- Alzheimer's test: Detection at the earliest stages
Complications (1)
- Phantosmia: What causes olfactory hallucinations?
Treatments and drugs (4)
- Folic acid supplements: Can they slow cognitive decline?
- Alzheimer's nose spray: New Alzheimer's treatment?
- Vitamin B-12: Can it improve memory in Alzheimer's?
- see all in Treatments and drugs
Alternative medicine (4)
- Axona: Medical food to treat Alzheimer's
- Phosphatidylserine supplements: Can they improve memory?
- Vitamin B-12: Can it improve memory in Alzheimer's?
- see all in Alternative medicine
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Question
Rapid-onset Alzheimer's: Could it be something else?
My mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. But she seems to be deteriorating at a rapid rate. Everything I've read about Alzheimer's says that it has a slow progression. What can you tell me about this?
Answer
from Ronald Petersen, M.D.
Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease of the brain, which usually implies a slow progression. However, Alzheimer's sometimes progresses rapidly — over weeks or months instead of years — but this is uncommon.
A rapid progression may also suggest that a second type of dementia is complicating the Alzheimer's — such as vascular dementia or Lewy body disease. In addition, rapid progression may indicate another condition that mimics the symptoms of Alzheimer's, such as:
- Steroid responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis
- Conditions related to autoimmune diseases or to cancer, such as paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis
- Infections that affect the central nervous system, such as HIV and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
- A side effect of certain medications, such as anticholinergic drugs and narcotic pain relievers
- Vitamin B-12 deficiency
- Depression
- Hypothyroidism
Seek a prompt and thorough medical evaluation to determine the exact cause of rapidly progressing dementia. Some causes are treatable.
Next questionAlzheimer's test: Detection at the earliest stages
- Knopman DS. Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. In. Goldman E, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier Saunders; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/147940288-10/0/1492/1426.html?tocnode=54629771&fromURL=1426.html. Accessed July 6, 2009.
- Josephs KA, et al. Rapidly progressive neurodegenerative dementias. Archives of Neurology. 2009;66:201.
- Geschwind MD, et al. Rapidly progressive dementia. Annals of Neurology. 2008;64:97.
- Kelley B, et al. Rapidly progressive young-onset dementia. Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology. 2009;22:22.
- Castillo P, et al. Steroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis. Archives of Neurology. 2006;63:197.
- Vernino S, et al. Autoimmune encephalopathies. Neurologist. 2007;13:140.
