Young onset dementias, including frontal lobe dementias, are dementias that occur in people less than 65 years old.  This episode discusses the challenges in diagnosing dementia in younger people, investigations including neuroimaging and cognitive testing and potential red-flags that might lead the general psychiatrist to consider a dementia diagnosis when reviewing middle-aged adults with psychiatric symptoms and conditions.

A/Prof Samantha Loi is an old age psychiatrist and clinical researcher with expertise in the area of dementia.  She has worked in the area of young-onset dementia at Neuropsychiatry, Royal Melbourne Hospital since 2011 and has a track record of publications and invitations to speak on this topic, as well as being the current Chair of the Young-Onset Dementia Special Interest Group, current Vic Chair of the RANZCP Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age and YOD representative for the Australian Dementia Network (ADNet).

A/Prof Steve Macfarlane became a psychiatrist in 2003, and was appointed Director of Aged Psychiatry at Peninsula Health in 2005. He moved to Alfred Health in 2008 as Associate Professor and Director of Aged Psychiatry, before becoming Head of Clinical Services for Dementia Support Australia in 2016.

Steve is a past Chair of the Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age for the RANZCP, has been running Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials for over 20 years, and has clinical interests in frontal lobe disorders and in senile squalor.

Resources:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.5694/mja2.51849

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36705011/

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