The Heartbreak of Alzheimer's.

• Author: Raven, Kathleen
• Position: Medicine & Health - Christopher van Dyck, a geriatric psychiatrist at the Yale University School of Medicine - Disease/Disorder overview - Interview

"... Dementia is a syndrome, or a group of symptoms. Alzheimer's is a disease and the leading cause of dementia."

WE RELY on memory to get and keep meaning from life. That may be why even small lapses, like misplacing car keys or forgetting a doctor's appointment, can lead to anxiety about our brain health. In fact, about half of U.S. adults between ages 50 to 64 worry they will develop dementia, along with the severe memory loss and cognitive confusion that come with it.

For now, though, the fear of developing dementia outpaces the number of diagnoses. Overall, about 14% of U.S. men and women older than 71 have some form of dementia, but those numbers likely will increase as the baby boomers--those born between 194664--grow older.

Dementia is not part of the normal aging process; instead, it is a symptom of an underlying brain disease. Alzheimer's disease causes between 60% and 80% of all dementia cases in this country, meaning that about one in 10 Americans age 65 or older currently lives with it. The remaining cases could be caused by more than a dozen other neurological conditions.

Those with Alzheimer's disease and other memory disorders may show frustration at being unable to express a deep, inner confusion of jumbled thoughts. They may not know how they arrived somewhere, or how to get back home. As the disease progresses, their loved ones might turn into unrecognizable strangers. A person will reach a point where he or she is incapable of communicating coherently.

"Alzheimer's is a heartbreaking disease," says geriatric psychiatrist Christopher van Dyck of the Yale University School of Medicine, who witnessed both of his maternal grandparents suffer through the disease during visits home as a medical school student. That experience, combined with an interest in neuroscience, led him to study Alzheimer's and specialize in treating patients with it. He now conducts research in the Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit and provides clinical care in the Yale New Haven Hospital-affiliated Dorothy Adler Geriatric Assessment Center.

Van Dyck provides answers to some frequently asked questions about dementia:

What is dementia? "Dementia is a decline in cognitive function that impairs daily living, to a point where a person is no longer independent, but it's important to note that dementia is a syndrome, or a group of symptoms. Alzheimer's is a disease and the leading cause of dementia. It's similar to asking what knee pain is. Knee pain is a...