Almost everyone has experienced “senile moments” when something that should be familiar, like a name or address, is just beyond their grasp. When this happens often enough to become bothersome, a person over the age of 50 may be suffering from some form of age-related memory disorder. Age-related memory deficits represent a huge potential market for pharmaceutical companies, and some might even have drugs that would treat such a condition, however, confusing terminology, poor diagnostic criteria, and lack of FDA guidance is currently preventing the development of treatments for conditions which do not qualify as Alzheimer’s disease. “Age-Associated Memory Impairment” (AAMI) is a term proposed by a working group of the National Institutes for Mental Health (NIMH) to describe a general reduction in memory that occurs with age. Newer concepts such as “Age-Associated Cognitive Decline” (AACD) and “Mild Cognitive Impairment” (MCI) have since been put forth, in an attempt to better define various stages of memory and cognitive decline in the aging population...
