Frightening Statistics Kick off the First World Alzheimer's Congress
Miriam Vale
Bachelor of Journalism
We are all aware of the devastating costs, both personal and societal, that are associated with Alzheimer's disease, and most of us are committed to improving our understanding of detection, progression and hopefully, in the near future, its prevention. Currently, a diagnosis of Alzheimer's is equivalent to a death sentence. At this stage, the most important thing a physician can do for his or her patients, and their caregivers, is keep abreast of recent developments in AD, particularly with respect to its early detection, diagnosis and the treatment of its associated behavioural symptoms.
Unfortunately, for many of us, the responsibilities of daily life preclude us from attending conferences, no matter how important they may be. At Geriatrics & Aging, we understand how busy most of you are, and we are committed to ensuring that this will not prevent you from obtaining information that is vital for your patient care decisions. With this in mind we are very pleased to present, in this and our October issue, a series of articles that summarize presentations from the First World Alzheimer's Congress, held in Washington, DC, in July of this year. For those of you who were unable to attend, I hope that this series of articles will provide you with information that you may not otherwise have obtained.
