Affiliations: [a] Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| [b] Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Allyson Rosen, PhD, ABPP-CN, Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Palo Alto VA Medical Center, 3801 Miranda Ave (151Y), Palo Alto, CA 94304-1207, USA. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: The potential for successful disease modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) opens up the possibility that there will be a large cohort of patients living with late-stage dementia and poor quality of life. There must thus be a parallel effort to leverage restorative therapies that improve quality of life in these patients. With the potential for stopping the onset of AD in new patients must come a commitment to those patients living with this chronic disability for many more years than first thought. Legal and ethical implications surrounding who makes decisions and equity in receiving care will become increasingly important if AD is no longer a terminal illness.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, end of life, hospice, neuroethics, therapy, quality of life
