ABSTRACT
AD than men, and this cannot be explained
solely by their longer life expectancy, since
women also have greater disease severity and a
higher age-adjusted prevalence of AD than
men.
The prevalence of AD increases dramatically
with age-from less than 1% at age 65 to
about 15% of people in their eighties.4 AD is
accompanied by progressive cognitive
impairment, and this has an enormous impact
on the quality of life of patients and their
caregivers. Risk factors for AD include a
positive family history, presence of Down’s
syndrome, head injury, female sex,
hypothyroidism, depression, and the
possession of the apolipoprotein E4 gene. In
contrast, education, smoking, and non-
steroidal anti-inflammatory agents may be
protective factors.5 On a cellular level, the
disease is characterized by neuronal loss,
accumulation of intracellular neurofibrillary
tangles, and extracellular senile plaques in the
hippocampus and association neocortex.
