Cognitive impairment in depression and Alzheimer's disease: differential diagnosis and approaches to therapy

Abstract

Mild to moderate cognitive impairment (CI) in elderly and senile age may be caused by various neuropsychiatric diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and depression. The literature review presents the mechanisms of CI development in AD and depressive disorders, as well as their course, prognosis, and differential diagnosis. Mild and moderate depressions in AD, their clinical variants, course and treatment approaches are described. Treatment for CI is shown to focus on therapy of the underlying disease, in which the former occurs. Antidepressants are used to treat depression and depressive disorders in AD, by taking into account the efficacy and tolerability of the drugs at old age.

Keywords

• mild and moderate cognitive impairment
• alzheimer's disease
• depression
• elderly age
• differential diagnosis
• therapy
• antidepressants