Framing Confusion: Dementia, Society, and History.

This essay will briefly sketch historical changes in the framing of dementia since the late nineteenth century. In broad terms, this period has seen a shift from viewing dementia as a pathological variant of normal aging to viewing it as a distinct disease. Although this broad reframing of dementia was clearly positive in raising awareness and funding for research, it had some negative aspects that should be considered.

Before it is too late: professional responsibilities in late-onset Alzheimer's research and pre-symptomatic prediction.

The development of a wide array of molecular and neuroscientific biomarkers can provide the possibility to visualize the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD) at early stages. Many of these biomarkers are aimed at detecting not only a preclinical, but also a pre-symptomatic state. They are supposed to facilitate clinical trials aiming at treatments that attack the disease at its earliest stage or even prevent it.

Progress in the history of Alzheimer's disease: the importance of context.

The history of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is typically formulated as the history of great doctors and scientists in the past making great discoveries that are in turn taken up by great doctors and scientists in the present--all sharing the aim of unraveling the mysteries of disease and discovering how it can be prevented or cured. While it can certainly be edifying to study the "great men" and how their contributions laid the foundation for current work, there are problems with this approach to history. First, it oversimplifies the actual historical development of science.