Alzheimer's disease is an extremely prevalent illness that has been more clearly understood in recent years. Although its cause is unknown, it is in some cases genetically transmissable. Symptoms include forgetfulness, memory loss, and confusion early in the illness and culminate in loss of personality and total cognitive degeneration. Diagnosis can be made with certainty only at autopsy, but the clinician must carefully eliminate treatable and partially treatable illnesses that present as dementia. A deficit of choline acetyltransferase seems specific to the disease and has been correlated to the neuropathologic changes in brains of patients with AD as well as to clinical symptomatology. While pharmacologic treatment strategies have attempted to increase brain acetylcholine function, they have not been clinically successful to date. Antipsychotic agents remain the treatment of choice for many AD patients, although helping the family care for such patients may be the most valuable service the physician can provide.
阿尔茨海默病是一种极为常见的疾病，近年来人们对它有了更清晰的认识。尽管其病因不明，但在某些情况下它具有遗传易感性。症状包括疾病早期的健忘、记忆力减退和意识混乱，最终发展为性格丧失和全面的认知衰退。只有在尸检时才能确诊，但临床医生必须仔细排除那些表现为痴呆的可治疗和部分可治疗的疾病。胆碱乙酰转移酶缺乏似乎是该疾病所特有的，并且与阿尔茨海默病患者大脑中的神经病理变化以及临床症状相关。虽然药物治疗策略试图增强大脑乙酰胆碱功能，但迄今为止在临床上尚未取得成功。抗精神病药物仍然是许多阿尔茨海默病患者的首选治疗方法，不过帮助家庭照顾这类患者可能是医生所能提供的最有价值的服务。
