Several studies have demonstrated that the great majority of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients suffer “noncognitive” neuropsychiatric symptoms. Depression is one of the most frequent neuropsychiatric comorbidities of AD. Affecting up to 50% of AD patients, depression in AD is associated with serious negative consequences for patients and their caregivers and presents a major public health problem in our society. Several treatment modalities for depression in AD are available and offer hope for the reversal of its adverse impact on the lives of patients and caregivers. Yet, available studies on natural course, etiology, and treatment of depression in AD have been few and equivocal. The heterogeneity of depression in AD might have contributed to negative or conflicting findings in some of these studies. Recently, the National Institute of Mental Health convened the Depression of Alzheimer’s Disease Workgroup, which proposed the provisional diagnostic criteria for depression of Alzheimer’s Disease (NIMH-dAD). These criteria provide a framework for future studies to clarify many unresolved issues in nosology, etiology, and treatment of depression in AD. This presentation will review some of the above issues and provide suggestions for the clinical management of depression in AD.
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