ABSTRACT
Alzheimer's disease is a relatively common disease of old age and results in the slow and progressive development of dementia. This chapter considers the dementia introduced in the patient scenario of Mr Harry Black, Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease produces characteristic widespread plaques and tangles of what were brain cells, which have deposits of amyloid protein in them. The memory loss in dementia means that the demented person has little or no ability to remember information or recognise people or places. In Alzheimer's disease, there appears to be a loss of a chemical called acetylcholine in the areas of the brain responsible for memory. In the UK, the medicines available on the National Health Service (NHS) to manage Alzheimer's disease are limited to four: donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine. NICE guidelines for managing hypertension include calcium channel blockers such as verapamil.
