The differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: conceptual and methodological issues.
The study of Alzheimer's disease is hampered by insufficient knowledge of its cause. It can best be described as a syndrome whose clinical and pathological features, and their associations over time, need to be more carefully examined. Issues which impede our understanding of this syndrome include the lack of: a singular "gold standard" for its identification; longitudinal studies with appropriate comparison groups and neuropathological follow-up; and standardized multifaceted clinical assessment procedures. Our awareness of the significance of these issues has led us to undertake a large-scale prospective, longitudinal investigation of 399 dementing and normal individuals at Sunnybrook Medical Centre. As a result of problems identified, it is proposed that research efforts across various Canadian centres be coordinated to best utilize available resources and expertise.
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D001519:Behavior; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012107:Research Design; D013223:Statistics as Topic