Dementia

Dementia is an umbrella term for several brain diseases affecting memory, other cognitive abilities, and behavior. It causes a long-term gradual decrease in the ability to think and remember, interfering significantly with daily living activities. Other common symptoms include emotional problems, language difficulties, and decreased motivation. Although age is its strongest known risk factor, dementia is not a normal part of aging. With increasing lifespan in the developed world, dementia has emerged as an increasing public health concern. It was uncommon in pre-industrial times and relatively rare before the 20th century. Billions of dollars are spent each year in rising related healthcare costs, in addition to the financial and emotional burdens on families, friends, and care partners/givers. However, dementia is not an emerging disease! It has been referred to in medical texts since Antiquity. It remains to this day one of the most misunderstood diseases in medicine. The causal etiology of many types of dementia, including the most prevalent Alzheimer’s, still remains unclear so that many theories (rather hypotheses) have therefore been advanced. Whereas much is known about the disease and the underlying and contributing factors, and much has been published on the subject, we still do not understand the deep biology of the disease. We have so far failed to find a cure and continue to be limited to symptomatic treatments that have limited or no effect. What is going on? Have we got the cause of dementia all wrong? I believe so. Rather than remaining focused on the primary endpoint of a cure, we have meandered around and shifted the emphasis to surrogate endpoints even though the latter had not been clinically demonstrated to correlate well with the disease. More recently, I have posited that the root cause (not a risk factor) of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases is but an autoimmune disease having gone rogue. In writing this book, following that discovery, I am attempting to reorient our approach along a path that I am convinced will be more successful in leading us to a cure. At the same time, I will also try to fend off this menacing disease and describe ways those already afflicted by the disease, or those fearing they might succumb to it, as well as their families, friends, and care partners/givers, can do something about it in addition to seeking medical treatment.