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Clinical nutrition

Reply to readers’ comment to: ‘Effect of monosodium L-glutamate (umami substance) on cognitive function in people with dementia’

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 73, page 967 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

We would like to thank Dr. Harper-Hanigan for the feedback on our manuscript entitled ‘Effect of monosodium l-glutamate (umami substance) on cognitive function in people with dementia’ [1] and for openly sharing pertinent thoughts.

A previous study [2] that examined the Touch Panel-type Dementia Assessment Scale (TDAS) reported its relevance to the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale for patients with Alzheimer’s disease only. However, the TDAS subscale comprises nine examination items measuring memory disturbance, orientation disturbance, visuospatial agnosia, executive function disorder, dyscalculia and other cognitive abilities; therefore, we considered the TDAS adept at evaluating general cognitive functions and accordingly used it for the subjective evaluation of cognitive symptoms. Furthermore, to maintain transparency and vouch for accuracy of our results, we presented not only the total score of the TDAS but also the results for all sub-items. As you astutely pointed out, the small number of subjects precludes stratification by dementia type, and we concur with the notion that recruitment of patients with different dementia types is worth considering in future investigations.

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References

  1. Kouzuki M, Taniguchi M, Suzuki T, Nagano M, Nakamura S, Katsumata Y, et al. Effect of monosodium L-glutamate (umami substance) on cognitive function in people with dementia. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2019;73:266–75.

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  2. Inoue M, Jimbo D, Taniguchi M, Urakami K. Touch Panel-type Dementia Assessment Scale: a new computer-based rating scale for Alzheimer’s disease. Psychogeriatrics. 2011;11:28–33.

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  3. Beauchamp GK, Bertino M, Engelman K. Failure to compensate decreased dietary sodium with increased table salt usage. JAMA. 1987;258:3275–8.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Regulation, School of Health Science, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, 86 Nishicho, Yonago, 683-8503, Japan

    Minoru Kouzuki & Katsuya Urakami

  2. Work Life Balance Support Center, Tottori University Hospital, 36-1 Nishicho, Yonago, 683-8504, Japan

    Miyako Taniguchi

  3. Frontier Research Laboratories, Institute for Innovation, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., 1-1 Suzuki-Cho, Kawasaki-Ku, Kawasaki-Shi, 210-8681, Japan

    Hideki Matsumoto

Authors
  1. Minoru Kouzuki
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  2. Miyako Taniguchi
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  3. Hideki Matsumoto
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  4. Katsuya Urakami
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Correspondence to Minoru Kouzuki.

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Kouzuki, M., Taniguchi, M., Matsumoto, H. et al. Reply to readers’ comment to: ‘Effect of monosodium L-glutamate (umami substance) on cognitive function in people with dementia’. Eur J Clin Nutr 73, 967 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-019-0437-6

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