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Welcome to the Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Resource Centre.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease which will affect most of us at one point in time - either directly (as the prevalence is expected to quadruple over the next 50 years) or indirectly through the suffering of a loved one.  Perhaps it'll be simply by having to pay part of the enormous and increasing cost of AD that impacts all of society.  These include loss in productivity (due to caregiver burden), medical care, and personal care-giving expenses. The latter will contribute quite significantly, since in the course of AD, patients will come to a point where their personality will change quite devastatingly. They will lose the essence of their self, will start to exhibit behavioural symptoms that are hard to deal with for the spouse and family, and will ultimately be sent to a nursing home.

You as a physician, have a chance to contribute to helping AD patients to get to this stage as late as possible - and with as much dignity as possible.

• The more you know about AD and its symptoms, especially its early symptoms, the better you will be able to treat the patient;
• The more you know about the treatment options currently available, the better you will be able to help his/her spouse and family to organize everyday life, adequately care for him or her, and help them to prepare for the future that lies ahead;
• The earlier you screen and detect any of your AD patients who might have shown up in your office for a completely different reason, the better you will be able to help them maintain their health and dignity for as long as possible.