Alzheimer's disease and Dementia with Lewy bodies: How different are they?

痴呆症是一种毁灭性的疾病，夺走了人的心智。随着人口老龄化，很大一部分人变得精神错乱，影响到这些个人、他们的家庭和整个社区（联邦和州对这种疾病的预算高达数十亿美元）。痴呆症有许多细胞原因，最常见的被认为是阿尔茨海默病。然而，许多目前被认为患有阿尔茨海默病的人有另一种痴呆病因——路易体痴呆。这项研究的目的是确定1)这两种痴呆症有多常见（目前未知）2)如何更好地诊断和区分它们3)每种疾病对大脑的影响有多严重4)两种疾病是否涉及相同的基因。我们将获得的知识将有助于更好地诊断痴呆症的细胞原因，这是合理治疗所必需的知识。

Dementia is a devastating disorder, taking the individuals mind. As the population ages, a significant proportion become demented, impacting on these individuals, their families and the community as a whole (Federal and State budgets for this disorder are costed in the billions). There are many cellular causes of dementia, the most frequent being considered Alzheimer's disease. However, many people currently thought to have Alzheimer's disease have another dementia cause - dementia with Lewy bodies. This study aims to determine 1) how common these two types of dementias are (currently unknown) 2) how better to diagnose them and tell them apart 3) how badly the brain is affected by each disorder and 4) whether the same genes are involved in both disorders. The knowledge we will gain will allow better diagnosis of the cellular causes of dementia, knowledge necessary for rational treatment.