[Detection of anti-Borna disease virus antibodies in patients hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals located in the mid-Western region of Poland].

Borna Disease Virus (BDV) is single stranded RNA virus, which may infect a wide range of animal species. Manifestations of the experimental BDV infection show some resemblance to psychopathological symptoms of mental disorders in humans. Several reports suggest the higher prevalence of anti-BDV antibodies in psychiatric patients than in healthy controls.

[Age-associated memory impairment].

This paper presents the diagnostic criteria for age-associated memory impairment (AAMI), proposed by the National Institute of Mental Health work group in the USA [1]. The paper also discusses the related notions and possibilities of differentiation between AAMI and dementia of the Alzheimer type.

[Dementia in diffuse Lewy body disease].

The article presents diagnostic criteria for dementia associated with diffuse Lewy body disease (DLBD) elaborated by the group of investigators from Nottingham (Byrne et al. 1991). These criteria allow to make the diagnosis of "probable" or "possible" dementia associated with DLBD.

[A reply to Dr. Bidzan's article "Relationship between the normal aging ad Alzheimer's dementia. Practical implications].

In research on the etiology and pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease much attention is devoted to the possible connections between this type of dementia and the ageing process of the brain alone, or the normal ageing accelerated or increased by certain adverse factors. There is cause to suppose, that normal ageing is only a certain ideal image. Indeed it is very difficult to meet an old person free from influences of adverse psychosocial and biological factors.

[The Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) and Functional Assessment Staging (FAST) in the diagnosis of Alzheimer type dementia].

Described are two scales for the diagnosis of dementia of the Alzheimer type and for identifying its following stages solely on the basis of social functioning and on daily activity level of the patient. The authors of the scale, Resiberg et al. based their findings on the conclusion that dementia of the Alzheimer type is a rare clinical syndrome with a characteristic onset and development which are identical in over 90% of patients.