Cognitive Disorders

Of concern is the safety of our roadways as the effects of aging take their toll upon drivers nationwide. Are there accurate ways to test the cognition and response ability of elderly drivers?

Often, a clinical diagnosis of AD comes too late for an individual to benefit from treatment. Clinicians can assign the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to patients with memory complaints, but they cannot state emphatically which of these individuals will progress to AD. Typically, about 10% to 15% of persons diagnosed with MCI convert to AD within a year, while 30% to 40% do not convert--at least not for another 6 to 8 years.

The prevalence of major depression following stroke ranges from 10% to 40%. Other psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders, apathy and cognitive impairment are also common. Psychiatrists need to be on the lookout for symptoms not just immediately poststroke, but up to six months after the event.

Cognitive impairment is a common symptom in many psychiatric and neurologic conditions. The articles selected for this Psychiatric Times special report provide a sampling of some important and topical issues regarding the influence of various factors on cognition in individuals with neuropsychiatric conditions.

The obvious sometimes bears repeating: Sick people have trouble thinking. They may be suffering from a delirium, a dementia or a more subtle disturbance of cognition caused by fever, drugs, infection, inflammation, trauma, hypoxemia, metabolic derangement, hypotension, tumor, intracranial pathology, pain and so forth.