The goal of the Clinical Core is to provide clinical research resources for clinical, epidemiologic, and clinical-pathoanatomic studies related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). To accomplish this goal, the Core will recruit community-dwelling persons with clinically diagnosed AD and comparable unaffected persons. These persons will be rigorously evaluated at entry and annually thereafter to provide descriptive data regarding change in cognitive function, behavioral disturbance and physical function. Finally, in collaboration with the Neuropathology Core, this Core will assure a high autopsy rate with a short post-mortem interval on persons with clinical data proximate to death. The ability to accomplish these Aims will be enhanced by the infrastructure provided by the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center (RADC). Specifically, the RADC supplies a steady source of persons to enter into this Core. From January 1, 1988 through December 31, 1990, there have been between 304 and 349 new patient evaluations each year, 429 of them receiving a diagnosis of probable AD by NINCDS/ADRDA criteria. In addition, there have been 83 autopsies on persons evaluated by RADC personnel. The RADC is staffed by skilled neurologists and neuropsychologists with extensive experience in the evaluation of persons with dementia, and a supporting staff skilled in adapting evaluations to the needs of the patients and their families, and obtaining coordination.
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