An accurate etiologic diagnosis in patients presenting with symptoms of cognitive loss is
increasingly important as our knowledge of dementia expands and new approaches to
treatment are developed. Although today's therapies are aimed largely at drugs that
enhance cholinergic function, tomorrow's therapies are likely to be disease modlfymg. In
addition to these changes, our conceptualization of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is undergoing
modification that involves a focus on a presymptomatic phase of the disease that may be …