Dementia is an umbrella term for several brain diseases affecting memory, other cognitive abilities, and behavior. It causes a long-term gradual decrease in the ability to think and remember, interfering significantly with daily living activities. Other common symptoms include emotional problems, language difficulties, and decreased motivation. Although age is its strongest known risk factor, dementia is not a normal part of aging. With increasing lifespan in the developed world, dementia has emerged as an increasing public health concern. It was uncommon in pre-industrial times and relatively rare before the 20th century. Billions of dollars are spent each year in rising related healthcare costs, in addition to the financial and emotional burdens on families, friends, and care partners/givers. However, dementia is not an emerging disease! It has been referred to in medical texts since Antiquity. It remains to this day one of the most misunderstood diseases in medicine. The causal etiology of many types of dementia, including the most prevalent Alzheimer's, still remains unclear so that many theories (rather hypotheses) have therefore been advanced. Whereas much is known about the disease and the underlying and contributing factors, and much has been published on the subject, we still do not understand the deep biology of the disease. We have so far failed to find a cure and continue to be limited to symptomatic treatments that have limited or no effect. What is going on? Have we got the cause of dementia all wrong? I believe so. Rather than remaining focused on the primary endpoint of a cure, we have meandered around and shifted the emphasis to surrogate endpoints even though the latter had not been clinically demonstrated to correlate well with the disease. More recently, I have posited that the root cause (not a risk factor) of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases is but an autoimmune disease having gone rogue. In writing this book, following that discovery, I am attempting to reorient our approach along a path that I am convinced will be more successful in leading us to a cure. At the same time, I will also try to fend off this menacing disease and describe ways those already afflicted by the disease, or those fearing they might succumb to it, as well as their families, friends, and care partners/givers, can do something about it in addition to seeking medical treatment.
Fymat, Alain L.: - DR. ALAIN L. FYMAT is a medical-physical scientist and an educator. He is the current President/CEO and Institute Professor at the International Institute of Medicine & Science with a previous appointment as Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer and professor at the Weil Institute of Critical Care Medicine, California, U.S.A. He was formerly Professor of Radiology, Radiological Sciences, Radiation Oncology, Critical Care Medicine, and Physics at several U.S. and European universities. Earlier, he was Deputy Director (Western region) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Office of Research Oversight). At the Loma Linda Veterans Affairs Medical Center, he was Scientific Director of Radiology, Director of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center and, for a time, Acting Chair of Radiology. Previously, he was Director of the Division of Biomedical and Biobehavioral Research at the University of California at Los Angeles/Drew University of Medicine and Science. He was also Scientific Advisor to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, for its postdoctoral programs tenable at the California Institute of Technology and member of the Advisory Group for Research & Development, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He is Health Advisor to the American Heart & Stroke Association, Coachella Valley Division, California. He is a frequent keynote speaker and organizing committee member at several international scientific/medical conferences. He has lectured extensively in the U.S.A, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He has published 475 scholarly scientific publications and books. He is also Editor-in-Chief, Honorable Editor or Editor of numerous medical/scientific journals to which he regularly contributes. He is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the European Union Academy of Sciences, a board member of several institutions, and a reviewer for the prestigious UNESCO Newton Prize, United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO.
