Dr. Peter Nelson explains Primary Age-Related Tauopathy and his role in defining this new disease

A multi-institutional study co-led by Dr. Peter Nelson at the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging has defined and established criteria for a new neurological disease called primary age-related tauopathy (PART). Patients with PART develop cognitive impairment that can be indistinguishable from Alzheimer’s disease, but lack amyloid plaques that are a hallmark of AD. Awareness of this neurological disease will help doctors diagnose and develop more effective treatments for patients with different types of memory impairment.

In this clip, Dr. Nelson explains the impetus behind the new diagnosis criteria using asthma and pneumonia as an example of how a general diagnosis (breathing difficulty) might lead to ineffective (or even detrimental) treatment.