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Does Alzheimer's disease start early in life?

Abstract

Aging and Alzheimer's disease are two of the keynotes of our time. Since its first description by Aloys Alzheimer about 90 years ago, this neurodegenerative condition has advanced to become the fourth most common cause of death in the elderly, and is found in more than half of the very elderly demented. Despite new findings which are linked to several aspects of Alzheimer's disease, relatively little progress has been made toward the discovery of reliable methods for early diagnosis or the development of a successful therapy for this debilitating disease. It is therefore helpful to recall the major underlying questions related to our understanding of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. This article deals with two of these: What is the earliest stage at which we can diagnose the disease? What influences the onset and progression of the disease? As simple as these questions appear to be, attempts at answering them show us the complicated, multi-facetted face of Alzheimer's disease.

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Editor's note: See the article by Sandbrink and Beyreuther (pages 438–444) in the December 1996 issue of Molecular Psychiatry for the latest advances on the molecular biology of presenilins in familial Alzheimer's disease.

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Ohm, T. Does Alzheimer's disease start early in life?. Mol Psychiatry 2, 21–25 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000231

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