DrGreengard

Excellent question. There is strong evidence for an association among diabetes, cholesterol and Alzheimer's Disease. Although the mechanism is not known, there is compelling epidemiological evidence. Maintaining a healthy diet is beneficial. Thank you for being on the front line of care for the greatly increasing number of patients suffering from this disease.

Elucidating the molecular and cellular basis of communication between nerve cells, as well as gaining insight into how this communication fails in various neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as Alzheimer's Disease.

I meant, time for ME to get back to work!

Dementia means loss of cognitive function. Alzheimer's Disease is believed to be due to the accumulation of a toxic substance known as Beta Amyloid. The Beta Amyloid accumulates in specific regions of the brain and kills the nerve cells in those regions. In other forms of dementia, other parts of the brain are affected. Alzheimer's dementia is irreversible. It is also the most common form of dementia.

Today it is possible to use a vast arsenal of scientific tools to study the disease. A variety of molecular biological approaches have enabled the identification of mutations in genes that make Beta Amyloid. We now know of hundreds of mutations that either increase the likelihood or guarantee the development of Alzheimer's Disease. We know the identification of the enzymes responsible for the formation of Beta Amyloid. The greatest progress has been the development of the amyloid hypothesis, which has remained the major driver for Alzheimer's Disease research and for drug development. There are several different compounds currently in clinical trial which show some promise. It has also been demonstrated that there are pathological changes in the brains of people destined to have Alzheimer's Disease 25 years prior to the manifestation of dementia.