MLA Domain 5 · Presentation

Memory loss

6 conditions in Finalist present this way. Work down the list and ask what would separate each one from the next — that discriminator is the exam question.

classic presentation · 2

Alzheimer's disease

Rapid decline, focal signs, early gait/falls, fluctuation or early hallucinations → reconsider the dementia subtype or a

Mixed dementia

The error is PREMATURE CLOSURE — labelling it pure Alzheimer and discarding the vascular changes (or vice versa)

differential of the above · 4

Frontotemporal dementia

Early-onset dementia with personality change — often misattributed to a psychiatric disorder

Lewy body dementia

NEUROLEPTIC SENSITIVITY — antipsychotics can cause severe rigidity/irreversible deterioration; recurrent falls

Normal pressure hydrocephalus

A reversible dementia mimic — worth identifying because shunting can help

Vascular dementia

Acute decline = new vascular event; manage stroke risk aggressively