[Alzheimer's disease: a type of cerebral amyloidosis].

Alzheimer's disease is a slowly progressive dementia that is characterized by Aβ amyloid aggregation, neurofibrillary tangles, and neuronal death. The major clinical symptoms are memory disturbance, aphasia, visuospatial disturbance, disturbance of executive function, and behavioral changes. Diagnosis is defined by the presence of dementia, the exclusion of non-Alzheimer type dementia, progressive atrophy of the hippocampus and temporoparietal cortex, decreased blood flow and glucose metabolism in the posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus, decreased levels of Aβ42, and increased levels of tau in the cerebrospinal fluid accompanied by positive amyloid proton emission tomography. The development of disease modifying drugs is desired.