Neurodegenerative Dementias

"NEURODEGENERATIVE DEMENTIAS"

McGraw-Hill, 2000
Edited by G.M. Clark and J.Q. Trojanowski

Reviewed by Barry J. Goldlist, MD, FRCPC, FACP

The text from McGraw-Hill, "Neurodegenerative Dementias" is clearly aimed at a very specialized audience--neurologists with a strong interest in dementia and neurodegenerative disorders. I suspect it will satisfy its target audience. It is remarkably up-to-date for such a multi-authored volume. For example, the chapter on Treatment Strategies in Alzheimer's Disease by Rachelle Doody has references from 1999. For the non-neurologist interested in dementia there are many valuable chapters. The book starts superbly with four chapters on normal aging. Although not meant to be comprehensive, these chapters are clear and address all the key issues. The chapters on Alzheimer's Disease which form the core of this text are excellent. The presentations on amyloid deposition and the tau-based neurofibrillary tangles explain difficult concepts clearly. The chapter on treatment strategies, the key chapter for clinicians, is quite comprehensive. Although current therapy is discussed in a restrained manner, the implied possibilities for the future certainly inspire optimism.