Trial Designs and Outcomes in Dementia Therapeutic Research

Book excerpt: Given the increased attention of clinicians, researchers, and the pharmaceutical industry to the management and treatment of dementia not only in the elderly but also in increasingly younger populations, the demands for effective evidence-based pharmaceutical control of dementia and quantitative assessment of outcomes have increased. From the first steps in the early 1960s to the controversial landmark paper of Summers and colleagues to the most recent trials, it is clear both that much progress has been made and that much remains to be done. This book is written to take stock of what is now usefully known and to speculate on directions for the future.