As human longevity continues to be extended, so will the impact of age-associated dementia on individual lives and society. Alzheimer's disease as the most common cause of dementia in the elderly remains a sentinal problem and its underlying pathology is still poorly understood. Available therapeutic strategies require considerable refinement and the development of new therapeutic strategies need input from basic research. Thus continued efforts are necessary both to understand basic mechanisms of the condition and to achieve more powerfull therapies. This volume brings together the reports of basic scientists and clinical investigators. The chapters provide a spectrum of information valuable for clinicians and scientists. This issue bridges the gap between laboratory work in basic science and the development of urgently needed therapeutic strategies. Areas presented are the molecular and cellular biology of the disease, pathogenetic mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets, genetics, risk factors, strategies of prevention and treatment as well as practical aspects of medical and social care for patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Inhalt

Alzheimer's disease: the size of the problem, clinical manifestation and heterogeneity.- Progression of Alzheimer's disease: variability and consistency: ontogenic models, their applicability and relevance.- Mild cognitive impairment - an early stage of Alzheimer's disease?.- The prognosis of mild cognitive impairment in the elderly.- Prevalence of mild cognitive impairment in an elderly community sample.- Increase of optical illusion in demented patients.- Age and dementia effect on neuropsychological test performance in very old age - influence of risk factors for dementia.- Neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease: a critical update.- Evolution of Alzheimer's disease related cortical lesions.- What are the relations between Lewy body disease and AD?.- The influence of coincidental vascular pathology on symptomatology and course of Alzheimer's disease.- Corpus callosum in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia - a quantitative magnetic resonance study.- What do we learn from a few familial Alzheimer's disease cases?.- Aberrancies in signal transduction and cell cycle related events in Alzheimer's disease.- Mechanisms of cell death in Alzheimer's disease - immunopathology.- Pathological immuno-reactions of glial cells in Alzheimer's disease and possible sites of interference.- Therapeutic strategies based on immunological hypotheses of Alzheimer's disease.- Risk factors for Alzheimer's disease during aging. Impacts of glucose/energy metabolism.- Aging, dementia and calcium metabolism.- Changes of intracellular calcium regulation in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.- Free radicals in Alzheimer's dementia: currently available therapeutic strategies.- Free radicals in Alzheimer's disease.- Simulation of cortical cholinergic deficits - a novel experimental approach to study pathogenetic aspects of Alzheimer's disease.- Neuronal anion exchange proteins in Alzheimer's disease pathology.- Lymphocytes as cell model to study apoptosis in Alzheimer's disease: vulnerability to programmed cell death appears to be altered.- Potential link between interleukin-6 and arachidonic acid metabolism in Alzheimer's disease.- Neurotrophin binding to the p75 neurotrophin receptor is necessary but not sufficient to mediate NGF-effects on APP secretion in PC-12 cells.- Aromatic alcohols as neuroprotectants.- The therapeutic potential of tacrine.- Sustained efficacy and safety of idebenone in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease: update on a 2-year double-blind multicentre study.- Clinical experience with donepezil (Aricept(TM)) in the UK.