The Promise and Peril of Alzheimer Disease Prevention

Interventions to delay or prevent Alzheimer disease dementia hold the promise of sizable personal and public benefit. The nomenclature, research designs, and interpretation of results for studies assessing prevention outcomes, however, are inconsistent and would benefit from greater consensus about the necessary requirements for specific intervention claims. Moreover, the public space includes substantial media attention, direct-to-consumer diagnostics, and marketing of unproven interventions for brain health and dementia prevention. This article outlines these issues in hopes of catalyzing further consensus building and alerting professional and regulatory agencies to these topics.