title: Early diagnostics and therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease--how early can we get there?
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major threat for the rapidly aging world population. AD is the leading cause of dementia and a major cause of death in developed countries. The disease puts a tremendous practical, emotional and financial burden on individuals and governments. Clinicians and researchers in the AD field face great challenges: the pathophysiological processes that cause AD are not well understood, definite diagnosis of AD requires autopsy, and therapeutic options are limited to treating the symptoms rather than the cause of the disease. Nevertheless, new insights into the earliest events that lead to development of AD increase hope that reliable diagnostics and efficacious therapies may emerge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Neuroscience Research Building 1, Room 455, 635 Charles E. Young Drive South Los Angeles, CA 90095-7334, USA. monien@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Bernhard H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Monien
authors.forename: Liana G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Apostolova
authors.forename: Gal
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bitan
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors