β-Amyloid and the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

SIXTY to 80 percent of cases of dementia among persons over the age of 65 are caused by Alzheimer's disease. Most of the remainder are caused by cerebrovascular disease with multiple infarcts, and a smaller proportion are due to tumors, infections (e.g., infection with the human immunodeficiency virus), metabolic disorders, depression ("pseudodementia"), and the less common neurodegenerative diseases, including Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, and Huntington's disease.^{1 2 3} Alzheimer's disease has been estimated to afflict 5 to 11 percent of the population over the age of 65 and as much as 47 percent of the population over the age of 85. . . .