Alzheimer Dementia

Major neurocognitive disorders (NCDs), also known as dementia, are a group of diseases characterized by decline in a person’s memory and executive function. These disorders are progressive and persistent diseases that are the leading cause of disability among elderly people worldwide. There are several distinct etiologies for major NCDs. While there are known risk factors and measures to prevent major NCDs, there are no effective curative treatments.

As the most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer disease affects not only many individuals but also their families. Alzheimer disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes brain atrophy and presents with a decline in memory, cognition, and social skills. Several genetic defects and risk factors have been described, although there is no clear cause in the majority of cases. The main pathologic features are neuritic plaques, extracellular deposits of amyloid peptides, and neurofibrillary tangles. The clinical features are memory impairment, loss of executive function and judgment, impaired cognitive function, and behavioral changes. Diagnosis is based on clinical examination, neuropsychiatric testing, and imaging. There is no curative therapy, but symptomatic management with medications may slow progression; these include cholinesterase inhibitors, the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist memantine, and a recently approved anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody.