Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2005
Will AN-1792, the “vaccine against Alzheimer's,” gain the same significance for the aging human brain as the year 1792 for history? Recent reports look promising. Will old-age psychiatrists and geriatricians, whose pharmacotherapeutic activities against dementia were traditionally compared to using aspirin against brain tumors, now have to downsize their business? This may well happen. Will society have to cope with costly cohorts of the wise very old, who will then be able to enjoy intellectually rich lives and cunningly claim their rights? An answer would go beyond the available evidence.