Patient case (clinical description): A 70-year-old man comes to the office accompanied by his wife.  The patient has experienced progressive memory loss over the last years.  He needs help with some of his routine activities, such as paying bills.  The patient's wife says, "He used to be such an independent person, but now he needs help with many things, even finding direction to home!"  Medical history includes hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.  Family history includes Alzheimer disease in his father.  MRI reveals diffuse cortical and hippocampal atrophy. The diagnosis of AD is made using the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) criteria.

Patient's own account: I am a 70-year-old man, and I paid a visit to the doctor with my wife the other day. I noticed that I tend to forget small things and that my memory has decreased over the past few years. I even ask my wife to help me out with my daily routine. I used to be the one paying the bills, but now she has to give me a hand. My wife mentioned to the doctor that I used to be independent and that I tend to forget where we live. I suffer from hypertension, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. My poor dad was suffering from Alzheimer disease, so I hope I'm not going to end the same way! I did an MRI and they found out that some part of my brain was decreasing. I also did an Alzheimer test.

Clinical trial: Predictors of Cognitive Decline in Normal Aging

Eligibility criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

          -  Males and females, from all racial and ethnic categories between the ages of 60-80
             years of age, with English as their first language.

          -  Residents of the New York City metropolitan area.

          -  Minimum of 12 years of education.

          -  Participants will be grouped according to the following classifications: normal aging,
             mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), or frontotemporal dementia
             (FTD).

          -  Participants will agree to ApoE genotyping and DNA banking.

        Exclusion Criteria:

          -  Past history or MRI evidence of brain damage including significant trauma, stroke,
             hydrocephalus, lacunar infarcts, seizures, mental retardation or serious neurological
             disorder.

          -  Significant history of alcoholism or drug abuse.

          -  History of psychiatric illness (e.g., schizophrenia, mania or depression).

          -  Any focal signs or significant neuropathology.

          -  A score of 4 or greater on the Modified Hachinski Ischemia Scale suggesting
             cerebrovascular disease.

          -  A total score of 16 or more on the Hamilton Depression Scale to exclude possible cases
             of primary depression.

          -  Evidence of clinically relevant and uncontrolled hypertensive, cardiac, pulmonary,
             vascular, metabolic or hematologic conditions.

          -  Physical impairment of such severity as to adversely affect the validity of
             psychological testing.

          -  Hostility or refusal to cooperate.

          -  Any prosthetic devices (e.g., pacemaker or surgical clips) that could be affected by
             the magnetic field employed during MRI imaging.

          -  History of familial early onset dementia.
No condition on gender to be admitted to the trial.
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Subject must be at least 60 Years old.
Subject must be at most 80 Years

Eligibility (NLI label): Entailment