Toward an Effective Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

Excerpt

The development of an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease is one of the most pressing needs facing medicine today. This age-related disease has become increasingly prevalent as our population of elderly persons has grown and now affects at least 4 million persons in the United States. Patients with Alzheimer's disease fill more than one half of the beds in nursing homes (1). Additional disability occurs because patients with even mild dementia are unable to comply with medical treatment for other diseases.

Recent advances in our understanding of Alzheimer's disease as well as recently completed therapeutic trials suggest that a treatment