Does this patient have Alzheimer disease? Diagnosing and treating dementia.

Alzheimer disease follows a pattern of gradual cognitive, behavioral, and functional decline. Other causes of dementia have overlapping presentations, but with important differences. Most patients with mild to moderate dementia should be treated with cholinesterase inhibitors to temporarily stabilize symptoms and delay clinically important end points. Memantine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist, may soon be available to treat moderate to severe dementia.