Resumo

LLIBRE RODRIGUEZ, Juan de J.  e  GUERRA HERNANDEZ, Milagros. Actualización sobre la enfermedad de Alzheimer. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2002, vol.18, n.4, pp. 264-269. ISSN 1561-3038.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting approximately 8 % of the population over 65 and 30 % of the population over 80 in those countries with a life expectancy at birth as high as ours, with an elevated economic, social and mainly human cost. There is an urgent need to make researches directed to estimate the prevalence and incidence of the disease, to know its risk factors, and to quantify the impact on family and society, which will allow to establish strategies directed to this population and its family. The highest influence on the early diagnosis, the medical attention given to patients and their families and its direct repercussion on the quality of life, will depend on the training and updating of the primary health care team. That's why those aspects connected with the epidemiology and the risk factors, the diagnosis and the current strategies of treatment of this increasing health problem are dealt with in the present review.

Palavras-chave : ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE [diagnosis]; ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE [epidemiology]; ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE [therapy]; RISK FACTORS; FAMILY; QUALITY OF LIFE; PRIMARY HEALTH CARE.