Paget's Disease of the Thoracic Spine A Case Report

A case of cord compression, secondary to Paget's disease, and responding to medical therapy is presented. The role of current imaging techniques in this condition is discussed.     

How do General Practitioners Diagnose Dementia?

By means of a qualitative study, we set out to generate hypothesesabout the way general practitioners (GPs) diagnosed dementia.We looked for triggers for the diagnosis of dementia. Ten GPswere interviewed about four dementia cases taken from theirown practices. GPs are more concerned with treatment than withthe diagnosis of dementia as such, as diagnosis is performedin relation to treatment. The most important aid was the evolutionof the clinical tables based on the information of caregivers.Important triggers were changes of activities of daily lifefunction, behaviour and cognition. Acute illness and loss ofthe key caregiver were relevatory moments. Recommendations aremade for the improvement of the diagnostic abilities of GPs.     

Dementia-free life expectancy in Belgium

To monitor the influence of dementia on the health of the populationthe concept of Dementia-Free Life Expectancy (DemFLE) was introduced.The DemFLE was estimated using Sullivan's method on the dataof the ERDA study 1991 (Epidemiology Research on Dementia, Antwerp,Belgium). At the age of 65 years, elderly people in Belgiumhad a life expectancy of 16.4 years, a DemFLE of 15.3 years,and 1.1 years with at least moderate dementia. In absolute yearsthe life expectancy with dementia remained constant beyond theage of 65: it was about 1.7 years for women, 0.7 years for men.The proportion of the remaining life that will be lived in ademented state increased with age: 4% and 9% in men and womenat age 65, but 20% and 30% at the age of 85. The results confirmdementia as an important public health problem in the elderly.