Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a diagnosis applied to a group of degenerative brain disorders with similar clinical and pathological characteristics. It is the most common cause of dementia, with onset of symptoms after the age of fifty-five years. It is recognized as a major public health concern in societies with an aging population. AD affects four million people in the United States. At least 90 percent of those affected are over sixty-five years of age. In 1998 direct health care costs were estimated to be $50 billion. Indirect costs, such as lost productivity and absences from work, were estimated to be $33 billion.

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In 1907, Alois Alzheimer, a German physician from Bavaria, published the case of one of his patients. The patient, Mrs. Auguste D., at the age of fifty-one years developed an unfounded jealousy regarding her husband. This behavioral change was followed...