ABSTRACT
References 45
There are two main diagnostic challenges within the dementia field: distinguishing patients with dementia from those without, and the accurate differential diagnosis of dementia subtypes (Kaye, 1998). The diagnosis of dementia has always had enormous prognostic implications, however, with the availability of licensed treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (Rogers et al., 1998; see Chapter 54, Established treatments for Alzheimer’s disease: cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine) and vascular dementia (VaD) (see Chapter 63, Therapeutic strategies for vascular dementia and vascular cognitive disorders), and the likelihood of more effective treatments becoming available over the next decade, issues of differential diagnosis will become progressively more important.
