Treatments for age-related dementia and the growing reliance on pharmaceuticals to alleviate its worst symptoms raise a number of questions about attitudes toward aging and cognition, the relationship between growing older and getting sick, and the conflicting interests of patients, caregivers, physicians, scientists, and business. This volume aims to foster a constructive debate about the future of dementia treatment by providing multiple perspectives on these tangled issues.
The first section examines how the concepts of dementia have expanded to encompass a broad range of symptoms and the implications of this evolution on the development of pharmaceutical treatments. The second section explores the use and effectiveness of drug treatments for dementia through the perspectives of a clinician, a researcher, and a layperson. In the third section, the contributors probe how culture, language, and values affect the overlapping worlds of pharmacology, drug marketing, and dementia treatment. A final section elucidates the thorny ethical and policy concerns surrounding the often-conflicting hopes for dementia medications.
Featuring contributions from noted clinicians, researchers, and scholars from a broad range of disciplines, this multidisciplinary dialogue addresses central questions about the history and future of drug treatment for dementia and makes clear why there are no simple answers. Professionals and students involved in gerontology, psychiatry, and bioethics will find the discussion both enlightening and practical.
About the Author: Jesse F. Ballenger, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Science, Technology, and Society Program at Pennsylvania State University. Peter J. Whitehouse, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of integrative studies at Case Western Reserve University. Constantine G. Lyketsos, M.D., M.H.S., is the Elizabeth Plank Althouse Professor in Alzheimer's Disease Research at Johns Hopkins, where he is chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the Bayview Medical Center, vice-chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, co-director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry, and director of the Memory and Alzheimer's Treatment Center. Peter V. Rabins, M.D., M.P.H., is the vice-chair for Faculty Academic Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University, where he is co-director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. Jason H. T. Karlawish, M.D., is an associate professor of medicine and medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania.
