Doctors are officially recognizing a new brain disorder that falls under the umbrella of dementia. While this new disease may come with many of the same symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, is thought to affect the brain differently and develop more slowly, and may be more common in elderly people.
The new type of dementia, called "limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy," or LATE for short, was identified and described in a new report published in the journal Brain on Tuesday. If the name sounds complicated, the disease is even more so: Because many forms of dementia can cause similar symptoms, and even overlap with each other, telling the difference and making the right diagnosis can get tricky.
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Further studies into LATE, and dementia in general, will be required in order to develop treatments that address the root causes and not just the symptoms. But this study is an important first step — a "roadmap," said Nina Silverberg, director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers Program at the National Institute on Aging. Learn more at CNN.