Abstract
Dementia is common, already affecting 1% of the population, and unfavorable demographic developments in the near future will bring a further increase in its prevalence. However, cognitive deficits continue to be diagnosed less often than is actually the case.
On the other hand, it is a mistake to think that every dementia is Alzheimer's disease. Other types of dementia are also very common, but they may not be easy to distinguish correctly.
Only a minority of patients with dementia are treated and the number of treated patients in the Czech Republic lags behind the USA and European countries. Evidence-based treatments are drugs from the cognitive group.
Nootropic treatment has no proven effect. Diagnosis is moving more and more to the beginning of the disease, which is made possible by the so-called biomarkers.
The role of the general practitioner is key in detecting the disease and directing patients to specialists. Therefore, the growing effort to conceptually adjust the care of these patients cannot bring success without the key role of PL at the beginning of the diagnostic process.
