Alzheimer disease and other dementias

Dementias become more prevalent with increasing age. As the growth in the geriatric population increases, so does their incidence. Risk factor profiling, neuroimaging, and neurocognitive testing are helping to provide objective evidence for determining normal aging from cognitive deficit states. The diagnosis usually can be made by a careful interview and a detailed physical examination with emphasis on neurologic and mental status examinations, followed by standard laboratory testing. Early therapeutic intervention can make a difference in long-term outcome. Distinguishing variants of dementias allows the clinician to intervene based on etiology and similarities in neurotransmitter deficit states. Palliative ways of slowing progressive decline are available by way of cholinesterase inhibitors, although no cures yet exist for dementias. Optimizing current treatments makes sense for improving the quality of life for sufferers.