Emerging treatments in dementia.
Dementia is one of the most common organic mental syndromes, usually caused by Alzheimer's disease (AD) or vascular dementia (VD) or both. Regarding AD we review the state or the art of the cholinergic approach and discuss some future options regarding preventive and nonsymptomatic strategies. Therapy for VD will consist mainly in influencing and preventing cerebrovascular pathology, because operational criteria for the diagnosis have only recently been proposed and are being discussed widely. One of the crucial problems here lies in the distinction between VD and AD and the recognition that the two disorders may be coexistent more often than assumed; the role of white matter changes seems to be particularly important. The same goes for the recognition that AD ist not a single entity. The question of heterogeneity may be solved when different therapeutic strategies are found for different subtypes. The focus of future plans should be on preventive strategies combined with an early diagnosis.
Scheltens
P
P
Department of Neurology, Academisch Ziekenhuis VU, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. p.scheltens@azvu.nl
van Gool
W A
WA
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018678:Cholinergic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004967:Estrogens / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D018678:Cholinergic Agents; D004967:Estrogens; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D018697:Nootropic Agents