Alzheimer Disease and Memory Disorders

#3

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and its affiliated medical schools, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and Weill Medical College of Cornell University, have an extensive clinical and research program treating and investigating neurological memory disorders caused by Alzheimer Disease and other age-related dementias. A full spectrum of clinical services is offered at both the Neurological Institute of New York and the Neuroscience Institute of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Patients and their families can be assured of expert treatment with compassion and respect.

Diagnostic Innovation

Early detection is today's most pressing goal for managing Alzheimer Disease (AD). Most medications currently available or in development can only slow the patient's descent into forgetfulness. When the disease can be diagnosed earlier in its progression, treatment can begin earlier and its effectiveness can be increased.

At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, memory and behavioral services are provided by a large interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals. The team includes eight neurologists, two psychiatrists, four neuropsychologists, a social worker, a nurse, a number of clinical fellows, and a large group of staff involved in assisting and facilitating clinical care and research. All physicians have faculty appointments to the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons within the Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, as well as in either or both the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer Disease and the Aging Brain. Expert integrated clinical care provided by faculty and ancillary staff includes:

comprehensive neuro-medical diagnostic services
neuropsychological assessments, laboratory
electrophysiological and neuroimaging radiological services
patient and caregiver education
state-of-the-art treatment
care management and planning

Faculty members are available 24 hours per day, and provide extensive inpatient expertise in cases of elective or emergency admission to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The faculty are also members of the clinical staff of the Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Columbia University.

NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell's Memory Disorders Program also provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment of cognitive and behavioral disturbances caused by Alzheimer's and other kinds of dementia. The Program employs a team approach to all aspects of patient care, and provides a network of support services to assist patients and their families with management & planning of care, education, psychological support, and cognitive rehabilitation.

The Memory Disorders Program's state-of-the-art clinical testing focuses on early diagnosis, as well as differential diagnosis to determine the precise cause of a patient's memory disorder. Collaborating with the Department of Radiology, physicians in the Memory Disorders Program have developed a new brain imaging technique, called Quantitative Diffusion Tensor Imagery to diagnose and monitor normal pressure hydrocephaly, a treatable condition causing dementia and other symptoms that can resemble Alzheimer's or Parkinson Disease.

Therapeutic Excellence

The Lucy G. Moses Center for Memory and Behavioral Disorders, located in the Neurological Institute of New York at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia is one of 28 specialized Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers federally sponsored by the National Institute on Aging. Their team of neurologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, and other health-care professionals (including a nurse, social worker, and genetic counselor) are specially trained in diagnosing and treating memory disorders.

The Weill Cornell Memory Disorders Program offers pharmacological treatments for a range of memory disorders, as well as non-pharmacological approaches including immunization-based treatments and surgical treatments that are currently being developed. Pharmaceutical treatments currently available for Alzheimer Disease include:

Cognex (tacrine)
Aricept (donepezil)
Exelon (rivastigmine)

Research

The Alzheimer Disease Research Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia is one of 28 national Alzheimer Disease centers sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to improve the diagnosis, treatment and management of Alzheimer's and related brain disorders. Additionally, the Alzheimer Disease Cooperative Study group, the largest federally-sponsored national network of clinical Alzheimer Disease research studies, is part of this initiative. Extensive research programs sponsored through the Sergievsky Center, the Taub Institute, the Alzheimer Disease Research Center, and associated investigations allow patients to not only receive excellent clinical care, but also have the opportunity to participate in a wide spectrum of investigational clinical trials.

Current ongoing research studies include the development of new neuroimaging techniques for diagnosis and monitoring of disease, special genetic studies to find new genes and assess the contribution of genetic factors to neurologic disease, observational studies designed to understand risk factors affecting the course of disease, and various pharmacologic (drug) studies to intervene and improve neurologic disease symptoms.

The research arm of the Memory Disorders Program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell focuses on turning basic research into applicable clinical treatment. Current projects are investigating the genetic underpinnings of Alzheimer Disease, examining biological markers that could be used as treatment targets, and characterizing proteins found in the brains of patients with dementia.