[Epidemiology and risk factors of Alzheimer's disease]

The epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease is complex. The approach of the distribution of this disease in human populations is limited by an insidious onset and a difficult diagnosis assessment for alive patients. The hunt for Alzheimer's disease determinants has been boosted by the development of molecular biology techniques, allowing the detection of genetic susceptibility factors. Epidemiology offers new areas of research in the field of a disease whose impact and severity is growing, but whose preventive and therapeutic issues remains uncertain.