Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Nov;34(4):941-953.
doi: 10.1016/j.ncl.2016.06.009. Epub 2016 Aug 4.

Alzheimer Disease and Its Growing Epidemic: Risk Factors, Biomarkers, and the Urgent Need for Therapeutics

Richard A Hickman  1 , Arline Faustin  2 , Thomas Wisniewski  3
Affiliations
Review

Alzheimer Disease and Its Growing Epidemic: Risk Factors, Biomarkers, and the Urgent Need for Therapeutics

Richard A Hickman et al. Neurol Clin. 2016 Nov.

Abstract

Alzheimer disease (AD) represents one of the greatest medical challenges of this century; the condition is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide and no effective treatments have been developed for this terminal disease. Because the disease manifests at a late stage after a long period of clinically silent neurodegeneration, knowledge of the modifiable risk factors and the implementation of biomarkers is crucial in the primary prevention of the disease and presymptomatic detection of AD, respectively. This article discusses the growing epidemic of AD and antecedent risk factors in the disease process. Disease biomarkers are discussed, and the implications that this may have for the treatment of this currently incurable disease.

Keywords: Alzheimer disease; Biomarkers; Epidemiology; Risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Esiri MM, Chance SA. Cognitive reserve, cortical plasticity and resistance to Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s research & therapy. 2012;4(2):7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bachman DL, Wolf PA, Linn RT, et al. Incidence of dementia and probable Alzheimer’s disease in a general population: the Framingham Study. Neurology. 1993;43(3 Pt 1):515–519. - PubMed
    1. Vardarajan BN, Faber KM, Bird TD, et al. Age-specific incidence rates for dementia and Alzheimer disease in NIA-LOAD/NCRAD and EFIGA families: National Institute on Aging Genetics Initiative for Late-Onset Alzheimer Disease/National Cell Repository for Alzheimer Disease (NIA-LOAD/NCRAD) and Estudio Familiar de Influencia Genetica en Alzheimer (EFIGA) JAMA neurology. 2014;71(3):315–323. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Edland SD, Rocca WA, Petersen RC, et al. Dementia and Alzheimer disease incidence rates do not vary by sex in Rochester, Minn. Archives of neurology. 2002;59(10):1589–1593. - PubMed
    1. Ott A, Breteler MM, van Harskamp F, et al. Prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia: association with education. The Rotterdam study Bmj. 1995;310(6985):970–973. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types