Alzheimer's Disease
- It is a condition marked by progressive degeneration of the brain tissues that occurs in the middle and old age.
- It leads to marked loss of memory and deterioration of intellectual functions like memory, comprehension, and speech.
- Other physical symptoms include odd gait, loss of co-ordination, and eventually the patient may become physically helpless. Memory impairment is an essential feature distinguishing it from Parkinson's Disease.
Multiple System Atrophy
- It is a rare neurological disorder which impairs involuntary movements of the body including blood pressure, heart rate, bladder functions and digestion.
- Its physical symptoms are similar to Parkinson's like tremors, slow movements, muscle rigidity and poor balance.
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
- It is an uncommon brain disorder that causes problems in walking, balance and eye movements. It occurs mainly in old patients,
- The main symptoms include loss of balance while walking and an inability to fix the eyes properly. There is difficulty in focussing and looking downward. Patient may also experience blurring and double vision.
- As disease progresses, there is stiffness and awkward movements, problems with speech and swallowing, sensitivity to light, sleep disturbances, difficulties with memory, reasoning, problem-solving and decision-making.
Corticobasal Degeneration
- Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a neurodegenerative brain disease that has no known cause. It occurs in people above 60 years of age.
- The symptoms include stiffness, shakiness, slowness, and clumsiness in either upper or lower extremities, difficulties with speech, difficulty controlling muscles of face and mouth, walking and balance difficulty, memory or behaviour problems.
Lewy Body Dementia
- It is a condition marked by progressive memory loss due to protein deposits, called Lewy bodies developing in nerve cells in regions of the brain involved in thinking, memory and movement (motor control).
- Other symptoms are visual hallucinations and an unusual behaviour of talking to people who are deceased.
