Alzheimer's disease and long-term care: the assessment of the patient.

We briefly touched on the excitement, then quickly moved into the trenches. There are models for providing accurate assessments, both for patients with dedicated families and for those who are isolated. The models are imperfect, and await improvement from our colleagues and students. We have also documented the fact that families know what they are talking about (hardly a revelation to experienced clinicians). A refinement in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is that depression and medical illness are more likely to aggravate Alzheimer's than to imitate it. An understanding of this element will help in keeping our evaluation and treatment plans accurate and useful. There is plenty of work for all of us--scientists, clinicians, and caretakers--who are involved with the assessment and long-term care of those with Alzheimer's. We may use different means toward the common goal of reducing suffering, but we all need each other.