We support professionals caring for people with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.

Ageing is a natural process, whereas dementia is a disease. Old age and dementia therefore cannot be equated.

Dementia can be a manifestation of a number of diseases, most often Alzheimer's disease. It is markedly more frequent in older age groups, but it is by no means an inherent part or an inevitable consequence of brain ageing. Some types of dementia are in fact more common in younger age groups. Cognitive function does sometimes decline during normal ageing as well, affecting above all attention, psychomotor speed and the ability to recall memories. These changes, however, never limit a patient's self-sufficiency.

Patients with dementia have cognitive impairment to a degree that already limits their self-sufficiency. They need help in one or more areas of everyday life.

The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. It used to be diagnosed only once a patient already had dementia. Today we know that the disease has to be detected earlier — in the so-called prodromal stage (MCI), or even at a time when those affected already have changes in the brain but no clinical symptoms yet, in the so-called preclinical stage.

The earlier the disease is detected, the better the treatment results that can be expected. This holds both for the symptomatic treatment available today (which treats only the symptoms, in the same way that paracetamol treats a fever) and for causal treatment, which has now started to be used worldwide for a carefully selected group of patients. These are monoclonal antibodies against the beta-amyloid protein. This treatment works best in patients at the MCI stage, but it is also being tested in preclinical Alzheimer's disease (in people who have the protein in the brain but no clinical symptoms yet). The medicines in question are donanemab (Kisunla) and lecanemab (Leqembi). Before treatment it is necessary to test the Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) gene and to rule out vascular changes on brain MRI as well as other conditions. These medicines have the ambition of slowing the disease substantially, but they can have some adverse side effects that need to be monitored by brain MRI. Other biological medicines are promising too — for example trontinemab, diranersen and others. Their drawback, however, is not only the price but also the complexity of administration, as they are given by infusion or intrathecally.

In the brains of patients affected by Alzheimer's disease there is increased production of the beta-amyloid protein, which arises from the so-called amyloid precursor protein (APP).

In the later stages of the disease, nerve cells in the brains of those affected begin to die because their controlled, programmed death — so-called apoptosis — is triggered.

Current treatment options either address only the symptoms of the disease or slow its progression. The newest medicines can also extend patients' survival and are able to postpone the most severe stages of the disease, improve memory, quality of life and self-sufficiency, and thus reduce the burden on carers. A number of other medicines then influence behavioural and mood disorders (antidepressants, antipsychotics), sleep disorders and other symptoms.

The Alzheimer's Foundation supports research into Alzheimer's disease. Support it too and help us find a cure.