Clinical approach and pathological cascabe of dementia

Abstract

The number of patients with dementia is explosively increasing in major industrialized nations and Asian countries. It is estimated about 2,430,000 patients in the world, 4,000,000 patients in United States and more than 2,000,000 patients in Japan. The number of patients suffered from dementia is predicted to be 4,000,000 patients and occupy and 11% of Japanese population in 2040. Therapy for cure of dementia is still investigated. For this reason, dementia is the most important urgent and crucial concern in the national health and welfare. The major cause of dementia is Alzheimer disease. In this review, clinical symptom and natural course of Alzheimer disease, newly standardized criteria and neuropsychiatric butteries for Alzheimer disease are summarized. Possibility therapy to cure Alzheimer disease targeting Aβ oligomer and advances in research of biomarkers and amyloid imaging are also commented.