Alzheimer's Disease and Its Management in the Year 2010

By 2010 the number of cases of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias will have increased by at least 25 percent. Alzheimer's disease poses an enormous threat to health service and public health resources. Three areas that require targeted research are early detection and recognition, biological markers and diagnosis, and pharmacotherapy. Care of patients with Alzheimer's disease in managed care organizations must be improved through a combination of research, education, advocacy, and legislation. Research in the pathogenic cascade of events within the brain leading to Alzheimer's disease has advanced, and treatment targets within the steps of the process have been specified. The current drug discovery and testing infrastructure is insufficient for major advances in therapy by 2010. Strategies for achieving an optimum outcome by then include increased funding of targeted research; expansion of drug discovery and therapeutic testing efforts; increased training of basic, clinical, and translational scientists; and study of optimum health care delivery systems.