Abstract

Demeııtia is generally regarded as an acquired loss of cognitive function due to an abnormal cerebral condition. Many conditions including, vascular diseases, malignancy, trauma, metabolic disorders, alcoholism and exposure to other toxic agents may cause dementia. However, more than 50% of all dementia patients have Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The most important clinical features of AD are loss of memory, difficulty in daily problem solving and language and visuospatial deficits. Delusions, hallucinations and depression are also common in the early phases. Moreover, the senile plaques, neuurofibrillary tangles, granulovacuolar degeneration, and amyloid deposits in blood vessels (amyloid angiopathy) and plaques are common neuropathologic changes in the brain. In this paper, new approaches to the etiopathogenesis, clinical diagnosis and treatment of AD are reviewed.