Background Definitions and diagnostic criteria for all medical conditions are regularly
subjected to reviews and revisions as knowledge advances. In the field of Alzheimer's
disease (AD) research, it has taken almost three decades for diagnostic nomenclature to
undergo major re‐examination. The shift towards presymptomatic and pre‐dementia stages
of AD has brought prevention and treatment trials much closer to each other than before.
Methods Here we discuss:(i) the impact of diagnostic reliability on the possibilities for …

Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD), the leading cause of dementia, has reached epidemic
proportions, with major social, medical and economical burdens. With no currently available
curative treatments, both the World Health Organization and the G8 Dementia Summit
recently identified dementia and AD prevention as a major public health priority. Dementia
and AD have a wide range of risk factors (genetic, vascular/metabolic and lifestyle-related),
which often co-occur and thus interact with each other. Previous intervention efforts aimed at …