An overview of current concepts of Alzheimer's disease

The authors review the literature on Alzheimer’s disease, the major cause ofsenile dementia, and present a historical overview of senile dementia and its morbidity and mortality rates. They describe the clinicalfeatures of the various stages ofAlzheimer’s disease and discuss the differential diagnosis. They also describe the characteristic neuropathology and neurochemical abnormalities of the disease and their etiological implications. Finally, the authors discuss possible future directions for psychiatric research in the area ofAlzheimer’s disease.