Alzheimer's disease: studies of diagnosis and therapy
Year: 1993
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Despite tremendous recent advances in the clinical neurology, neurobiology and \nepidemiology of Alzheimer's disease, the cause as well as its treatment remains as \nmuch a mystery today as when it was first described in 1907 by Alois Alzheimer.' \nAlzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia in the elderlf and already \nreferred to as the disease of the century, is one of the major social and medical \nchallenges for clinical practice as well as for scientific medicine, especially since the \nnumber of Alzheimer patients is predicted to rise strongly into the next century.3 \nStudies presented in this thesis deal with issues that confront patients suffering \nfrom Alzheimer's disease and their families and caregivers every day: the uncertainty \nof the clinical diagnosis and the lack of adequate treatment The focus will be on \nsingle photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) as a method to assess \nregional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), its methods of analysis and the contribution to \nthe clinical diagnosis. In addition, aspects of two therapeutic strategies will be \nexplored: stimulation of neuronal metabolism and modulation of neurotransmitter \ndependent processes. Much of the work presented is guided by epidemiological \nprinciples and methods. This coincides with the clinical neurological point of view \nthat is a leading thread running through this thesis.
Author: Jules J. Claus
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1764862865