Response
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Anita Chopra
We thank Roy R. Reeves, DO, PhD, and Mark E. Ladner, MD, for their comments regarding our July article (J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2006;106:412-414). Our preliminary findings highlight significant associations between neuropsychiatric symptoms and the degree of medical illness in outpatients diagnosed as having dementia. We believe that primary care physicians play an important role in screening for mental status and behavioral change when patients report only physical symptoms. Conversely, physicians also need to be aware that neuropsychiatric symptoms or an altered mental status may be the only symptoms indicative of an underlying medical illness (eg, urinary tract infection). We absolutely agree with Drs Reeves and Ladner that there is a danger in attributing changes in mental status solely to a neuropsychiatric origin, especially in patients with dementia.
The American Osteopathic Association
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- Misinterpreted Neuropsychiatric Presentations of Medical Problems in Demented Patients
- CORRECTIONS
- Correction
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Articles in the same Issue
- AOA COMMUNICATIONS (REPRINTS)
- JAOA Now Requires Public Registration of Clinical Trials
- LETTERS
- Response
- Misinterpreted Neuropsychiatric Presentations of Medical Problems in Demented Patients
- CORRECTIONS
- Correction
- BOOKS RECEIVED, 2006
- Books Received
- ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS
- Hemodynamic Stability During Labor and Delivery With Continuous Epidural Infusion
- CASE REPORTS
- Malignant Mesothelioma: A Case Presentation and Review
- Adverse Drug Reaction to Methotrexate: Pharmacogenetic Origin
- MEDICAL EDUCATION
- Approval of ACGME Training as an AOA-Approved Internship: History and Review of Current Data
