ABSTRACT
The maintenance of mental alertness and robust cognitive function is an essential component of our quality of life as we age. The fastest growing portion of the human population is older adults, and world projections indicate that the number of individuals age eighty years and older will approach 370 million by the year 2050.1 The sobering aspect of this estimate is that the current prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in adults age eighty-Šve years and older approaches 50 percent.2 Many more suffer from cognitive impairments secondary to strokes and cerebrovascular disease. We are therefore in the midst of a growing epidemic that exacts a signiŠ- cant toll on the physical, emotional, and Šnancial well-being of afœicted individuals, their families and caretakers, and institutional and governmental resources.
