One third of cases of early Alzheimer's do not start with memory loss A study of the Barcelona Clinic highlights the complexity in detecting disease About a third of Alzheimer's cases that occur both before age 60 and therefore considered early, do not have memory loss as one of the initial symptoms to detect the disease, which complicates the diagnosis. so find a study of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and the Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), which publishes the magazine Tuesday of Neurology, in which researchers analyzed brain tissue from 40 donors who became ill with Alzheimer's earlier than usual. About 10% of cases of this neurodegenerative disease occur before 65 years, but researchers now know that a good number of them present with motor, visual or speech rather than memory, and therefore half the people who started the disease with different symptoms have an inaccurate diagnosis even at the time of his death. which if diagnosed correctly tend to take an average of three years to know that with Alzheimer's disease, an ailment with which lived about 11 years. The research, led by neurologist Albert Lledó, notes that in 41% of the cases displayed other problems before the memory leak is present the APOE4 allele - three times more common in with a family history - which shows the importance of biomarkers to develop an early diagnosis. Up to 4% of the population over 65 has Alzheimer's - the most common neurodegenerative disease - a percentage that doubles with each additional decade of life, researchers have pointed out. MORE RESEARCH The unit responsible for Alzheimer's and other cognitive disorders Clinic, José Luis Molinuelo, has also claimed the importance of providing additional funds research into biomarkers to detect this disease and the establishment of a National Plan that would achieve standards in all of Spain. a diagnosis biomarker - genetic markers that provide insight into the latency of disease - costs between 600 and 1,000 euros per patient, recalled Molinuelo, and requires the establishment of protocols currently lacking, and also the use of these indicators is only under investigation, and only three hospitals in Spain. In any case, has shown Molinuelo hopeful that budget adjustments do not involve a cut in this type of research, largely because it is the initiative of professionals and patients and that "no can be trimmed. " THE IMPORTANCE OF DONATION Neuroscientist Ellen Gelpi, Tissue Bank Neurological Clinic of the Hospital, has claimed the importance of the grant to advance research. Currently there are over a hundred grants of this type - different from the organ - and with them researchers hope to advance knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Huntington's or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), among others.
Teledermatology can save up to 40% of consultations. Rest Get the dermatologist's diagnosis without having to go to his office. Teledermatology not only saves the patient a trip to the hospital, but also the specialist can prevent up to 40% of patient visits. Is what concludes a study published in the English magazine 'Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas'. This choice of care increasingly has more arguments. Previous studies have suggested it as a solution to reduce the waiting lists of Dermatology and, now, a group of experts led by dermatologist Sergio Vañó shows how the query could relieve the dermatologist. The key is to maintain close collaboration between primary care physicians and dermatologists emergency room. That is, the patient go to his family doctor or ER and then to capture images of skin lesions, they would be sent through intranet or e-mail to the specialist, who would be responsible to analyze and make a diagnosis. is a methodology which is already used in some English hospitals, especially, according to an analysis conducted in 2009 by a dermatologist at the Hospital La Princesa, Diego de Argila Fernández-Durán, Madrid, Andalusia and Extremadura. As the expert noted, if this technique is no longer is instituted "a lack of resources and recognition, and also by the lack of management of certain hospitals and certain managers." In order to demonstrate and advocate the benefits of teledermatology, the team of Sergio Vañó collected digital images and medical records of 100 patients, half from primary care and half of service Emergency Hospital Ramón y Cajal de Madrid. - A reliable diagnostic A total of 20 dermatologists looked at the photographs and completed a questionnaire on the diagnosis and treatment. The medical opinion was clear between 70% and 87% of cases, so that, as stressed by the doctor come to his article, "the teledermatology has high diagnostic accuracy, especially in patients referred from primary care and infectious diseases. " As for handling, 40% were treated via tele (with the indications of general medical specialist) and 60% were referred to a specialist. "The main reason why we decided to face consultation was because" the photographs were of poor quality or because the required palpation skin disorder, skin biopsy, dermoscopy, face treatment such as cryotherapy or other reasons such as testing or contact making crops, "qualifies the dermatologist Ramón y Cajal. In some situations, it would face consultation, and patients with tumors of the skin. Now, given the results of this study English, "would be interesting to design a test to assess whether the query is for Teledermatology more cost-effective than face to the dermatologist and establish in what situations is well to establish some indications or criteria for using this method targets, "Sergio Vañó concludes.
