1 Ethics is a. general term for exploring human values and understanding what constitutes a good and moral life. Many selleck chemicals approaches to ethics are normative in that they examine what, is considered right, or good in a. particular cultural context. Others are more descriptive in that they examine

what, people believe and how they act without reference to standards. Research and clinical ethics in dementia are challenging because Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the nature of the disease. Ethical analysis, particularly in the Western world, is based on interactions among rational autonomous individuals.2 Dementia threatens the rationality and independence of persons,3 and raises specific concerns about quality of life.4 Ethical issues will become more evident in the future. First, considerably Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical more individuals in both developed and developing countries will be affected by dementing illnesses, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical particularly

so Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The revolution in molecular medicine, particularly genetics, will continue to lead to new technologies with ensuing ethical issues. However, the recognition that our fascination with the power of genetic technology is distracting us from attending to public and environmental health issues will hopefully grow.

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Revolutions in health care systems in many countries, which are due in part to the aging of our populations, will continue to generate new value conflicts for physicians and other providers. The growth of managed care in the United Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical States is one such example. In general, however, the recognition that health care systems around the world are facing economic constraints will be a major challenge and result in ethical issues relating, for example, to rationing of services. The frail and vulnerable elderly such as those with dementia will be at risk for being assigned low priority in such a rationing process. In this paper, we will first, discuss some of the approaches Cilengitide of modern biomedical ethics to orient the reader to language and methodology. Next, we will consider the ethical issues that emerge in research and practice involving persons affected by dementia in a. chronological or disease-stage fashion. We will begin by considering issues early in the disease, in fact, even before individuals are identified as having a dementing disorder.