Dementia is a state that has implications for several groups. There are,
first, those who wish to assess its nature and impact in an objective
and scientific fashion, using tools of research to uncover dementia's
causes, effects, and parameters. The result has been a rapidly expanding
literature in diverse disciplines: physiology, chemistry, neurology,
psychology, and sociology, among others. Second, there are those
professionals and caregivers who work di- rectly with patients and other
caregivers and who must assess and apply interventions. Third,
physicians are involved in diagnosis and treatment (so far as possible)
and are responsible for communicating the ominous meanings of the
destructive disease process. Fourth, there are the caregivers, who
accept accountability for the future of a human who increasingly shows a
"robbing of the mind" in his or her behaviors. The needs and stresses of
those who care for and about those with progressive dementia are among
the most intense imaginable. They need support of many kinds, frequently
without knowing what to ask or of whom to ask it. Finally, there are the
patients, who increasingly become dependent as their mental competencies
decline. They need empathic care-including answers to questions about
cause, stabilization, or reversal of the de- menting process. Even more,
they need cure. Further, present and future generations need the
assurance of prevention. This volume surveys present "knowledge" about
dementia and its consequences.
