diagnosis and treatment of dementia

alzheimers disease (ad) is by far the most common cause of dementia. definite diagnosis of ad is based on pathological findings. nincds-adrda criteria, published more than 25 years ago, are commonly used for the clinical diagnosis of ad. however, considering serious shortcomings of these criteria, new criteria have been proposed. according to these new criteria, ad can be diagnosed in predementia state, using imaging or csf studies. in these new criteria, attention has also been paid to early-onset genetic cases of ad. diagnosis of ad in subjective or preclinical phases of the disease can hopefully be achieved using new imaging techniques, csf studies or identification of genetic markers of ad. based on the 2000 guidelines, cholinesterase inhibitors and vitamin e should be considered in treating patients with ad. since then, new drugs have become available but it is obvious that there is an urgent need for more effective treatments. new cholinesterases inhibitors, γ-secretase inhibitors, and tau kinase inhibitors are among drugs being investigated. understanding of the genetic bases of ad undoubtedly leads to development of new treatment strategies.