This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Correction  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (8)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Neurology  • Alzheimer Disease  • Diagnosis  • Alert me on articles by topic

C. Munro Cullum, PhD; Roger N. Rosenberg, MD

JAMA. 1998;279:1689-1690.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

MEMORY PROBLEMS are one of the most common complaints of elderly persons.¹ Because the group of individuals older than 85 years is now the fastest growing segment of our society, it is critical for physicians to enhance their familiarity with the changes in memory associated with normal aging and to be able to identify the early signs of abnormal mental decline. Great progress has been made in the past few years in the ability to differentiate normal aging-related memory changes from the impairments associated with dementia, including Alzheimer disease (AD). Reassuring the patient with memory complaints who does not show evidence of a dementing disease on formal examination is important and gratifying. The early identification of a dementing disease is equally important to provide optimal care and plan for the future.

Aging-Related Memory Changes and AD

Memory is not a unitary phenomenon. Rather, it involves an array . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Diagnosis of AD

Clinical History

Neurologic Examination

Neuropsychological Evaluation

Psychiatric Examination

Neuroimaging

Clinical Chemistry Studies

Early Diagnosis and Treatment

From the Departments of Psychiatry (Dr Cullum) and Neurology (Drs Cullum and Rosenberg) and the Alzheimer's Disease Center (Drs Cullum and Rosenberg), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Reduced Hippocampal Functional Connectivity in Alzheimer Disease
Allen et al.
Arch Neurol 2007;64:1482-1487.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Gender differences in predictors of mortality in nursing home residents with AD
Lapane et al.
Neurology 2001;56:650-654.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Genetic Association of a Cystatin C Gene Polymorphism With Late-Onset Alzheimer Disease
Finckh et al.
Arch Neurol 2000;57:1579-1583.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Predictors of mortality in patients with Alzheimer's disease living in nursing homes
Gambassi et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 1999;67:59-65.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT