Dementia
Dementia in Children
Some types of disease can lead to dementia in children which include:
Niemann-Pick Disease:
Niemann-Pick Disease is a group of inherited disorders affecting the metabolism
caused by “…specific genetic mutations.” (4) Patients
suffering from this disorder cannot metabolize cholesterol and other lipids
leading to accumulation of excessive cholesterol in the liver and spleen
and excessive lipids in the brain. Symptoms of the disorder are dementia,
confusion and problems with learning and memory.
Batten Disease:
Batten Disease is a fatal, hereditary disorder of the nervous system leading
to an accumulation of lipopigments in the body’s tissues. Ultimately,
children with this disorder develop dementia, blindness and become bedridden.
Symptoms of the disease are personality and behavioral changes, slow learning,
clumsiness, stumbling, mental impairment, seizures and progressive loss
of sight and motor skills.
Lafora Body Disease:
Lafora Body Disease is a rare genetic disorder leading to seizures, and
rapid progressive dementia with movement problems. Lafora bodies are microscopic
structures present in the brain, skin, liver and muscles of the affected
children.
Other childhood diseases and disorders that include symptoms of dementia
are:
- Mitochondrial myopathies,
- Rasmussen's encephalitis, (occurs in children under 15)
- Mucopolysaccharidosis III (MPS III) or Sanfilippo syndrome,
- Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation,
- Leukodystrophies such as Alexander disease,
- Schilder's disease and
- Metachromatic leukodystrophy (4).
Article by Kona Vishnu, MS
Medical Writer,
OmniMedicalSearch.com |
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