The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has historically been concerned
with the protection of human subjects. In July 1977, the NIA sponsored a
meeting to update and supplement guide- lines for protecting those
participating in Federal research pro- jects. Although the basic
guidelines had been in effect since 1966, it had been neglected to
include the elderly as a vulnerable population. In November 1981, the
NIA organized a conference on the ethical and legal issues related to
informed consent in senile dementia cases. The present volume offers the
latest and best thinking on Alzheimer's Dementia to have emerged from
the dialog that was first embarked upon at the NIA meeting. Indeed, the
issues and concerns it treats now seem even more relevant than they
appeared historically because of the vastly greater awareness in the
community of the entire spectrum of problems Alzheimer's disease
confronts us all with. Our interest and concern is both humanitarian and
self- serving. Clearly older people must be protected from in-
appropriate research and careful attention must be paid to the
circumstances under which research is conducted on those older persons
who have given anything less than full consent. It is equally necessary,
however, for the research enterprise to be protected so that today's
elderly and those of the future can benefit from the fruits of research.