(Hardcover)
The text describes in detail the most common conditions and diseases leading to dementia and covers pharmacologic, behavioral, and environmental treatments. With content ranging from clinical guidance to basic research, it contains information on nearly every subject related to dementing conditions or illnesses.
Reviewer:Michael Joel Schrift, D.O., M.A. (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)
Description:This comprehensive new textbook covers the disorders of cognitive impairment, specifically the dementias and related disorders. Written and edited by leaders in dementia care and research, this is an outstanding resource for any physician wanting to keep abreast of the rapidly expanding knowledge in this area. It is a welcome addition to the neurology and psychiatry literature.
Purpose:The purpose is to provide a reference or sourcebook of the dementias. The editors also want the textbook to teach clinicians the "recognition and treatment of primary brain diseases and systemic disorders affecting the brain before they reach the stage of dementia."
Audience:The targeted audience is primarily physicians in psychiatry, neurology, and geriatric medicine. Trainees in psychiatry, neurology, neuropsychiatry/behavioral neurology, neuropsychology, and geriatrics would find it extremely useful.
Features:The 26 chapters are grouped into six parts. Part 1 reviews the history of the conceptualization of dementia and the epidemiology. Evaluation and diagnosis is covered in part 2, which includes chapters on neuropsychiatric assessment, medical evaluation, neuropsychological assessment, and neuroimaging. Part 3 reviews the various dementia syndromes with chapters on Alzheimer disease, mild cognitive impairment, vascular cognitive impairment, Lewy body dementia, and other synucleinopathies, frontotemporal lobe dementia, and traumatic brain injury. Treatment is the focus of part 4 with pharmacological andbehavioral/environmental approaches addressed as well as the management of advanced illness. Part 5 covers caregiver support and legal and ethical issues. The concluding section is oriented to the future with chapters on biomarkers, molecular and genetic bases of Alzheimer disease, future treatment strategies, and prevention issues. Each chapter is extensively referenced with citations of the relevant scientific literature. An included bonus are the 10 appendixes with forms for the history, the mental status examination, neurological examination, ADL inventory, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Agitated Behavior in Dementia Scale, Quality of Life in Alzheimer Disease Scale and in Late-Stage Dementia, and a useful list of resources. The index is quite detailed.
Assessment:This is a marvelous new and comprehensive textbook covering the dementias and related cognitive disorders. Everything a clinician would want to know about these difficult disorders is contained in this excellent textbook.
Myron F. Weiner, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology; Aradine S. Ard Chair in Brain Science; and Dorothy L. and John P. Harbin Chair in Alzheimers Disease Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.
Anne M. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., is in the Department of Neurology at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas in Dallas, Texas.