Alzheimer's disease overview

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

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Overview

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia among older people. Dementia is a loss of thinking, remembering, and reasoning skills that interferes with a person's daily life and activities. Other causes of dementia include blood vessel disease in the brain (called vascular dementia), Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and Lewy body dementia.

Historical Perspective

The first case of Alzheimer's disease was described by a German psychiatrist named Alöis Alzheimer in the year 1901. For many decades after Alzheimer's original description, there was little progress in defining the pathogenesis of AD occurred. In the mid 1970's, it was found that the levels of acetylcholine decrease in brains of individuals undergoing neurodegeneration due to Alzheimer's disease. In early 1980's major advances in biochemistry and molecular genetics allowed the use of compositional analyses and immunocytochemistry to explain the structure of tangles and plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer patients. The term Alzheimer's disease was subsequently formally adopted in medical nomenclature to describe individuals of all ages with a characteristic common symptom pattern, disease course, and neuropathology.

Classification

Alzheimer's disease may be classified according to severity into mild, moderate and severe dementia. It may also be classified based on age of onset into early onset and late onset Alzheimer's disease. Another method of classification of Alzheimer's disease is based on the course of disease into pre-dementia, early dementia, moderate dementia and advanced dementia.

Pathophysiology

Causes

Differentiating ((Page name)) from Other Diseases

Epidemiology and Demographics

Risk Factors

Screening

Natural History, Complications, and Prognosis

Diagnosis

Diagnostic Criteria

History and Symptoms

Physical Examination

Laboratory Findings

Electrocardiogram

X-ray

Ultrasound

CT scan

MRI

Other Imaging Findings

Other Diagnostic Studies

Treatment

Medical Therapy

Surgery

Primary Prevention

Secondary Prevention

References

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