Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major threat for the rapidly aging world population. AD is the leading cause of dementia and a major cause of death in developed countries. The disease puts a tremendous practical, emotional and financial burden on individuals and governments. Clinicians and researchers in the AD field face great challenges: the pathophysiological processes that cause AD are not well understood, definite diagnosis of AD requires autopsy, and therapeutic options are limited to treating the symptoms rather than the cause of the disease. Nevertheless, new insights into the earliest events that lead to development of AD increase hope that reliable diagnostics and efficacious therapies may emerge.
KeywordsAβ; Alzheimer's disease; amyloid; dementia; diagnosis; mild cognitive impairment; therapy Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of late-life dementia, accounting for approximately two-thirds of all dementia cases [1]. AD is a major cause of death and a tremendous financial and emotional problem, the magnitude of which is predicted to increase steeply in the next few decades if no cure is found. Here, we review the current knowledge of the processes that lead to AD and their implications on recent advances in diagnostics and therapeutics for AD. To this end, we have chosen a stepwise approach of increasing complexity in each step. We discuss how molecular events affect cells, cellular insults accumulate into tissue damage and tissue deterioration eventually affects the whole person. This stepwise approach is directed at both clinicians and basic researchers working in the AD field. †Author for correspondence,