Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:1-12
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
Chronic brain disease: an overview
CE Wells
The author discusses the current state of clinical and pathological
knowledge regarding chronic brain disease, focusing particularly on the
dementias. His review of clinical studies deals with diagnostic issues and
methods, etiology, and treatment. More basic research on brain alterations
with aging, their relation to clinical manifestations of dementia, and
studies of specific disorders are also reviewed. These disorders have been
receiving increasing attention from psychiatrists, who are becoming more
aware of the importance of organic cerebral factors in their patients'
complaints. The need to understand the chronic brain diseases and their
appropriate diagnosis and treatment will continue to grow as the proportion
of older individuals in our society increases.
