Dementia treatment: a German perspective on psychosocial aspects and therapeutic approaches

Because of the growing number of elderly people, the incidence of dementia is increasing. The disease represents a heavy burden for patients and their relatives and has growing social and financial implications. Unfortunately, research and therapeutic progress is slowed by methodological differences in the assessment of dementia and a therapeutic nihilism toward antidementia drugs. However, the limited efficacy of some antidementia drugs should not obscure the fact that a definite placebo-verum difference has been proved for other drugs and that the combination of these drugs with other therapeutic methods, like cognitive training, does bring positive results. Their use also seems meaningful in terms of economics.