The Medicalization of Alzheimer’s Disease: Promises and Limitations from a Geriatrician’s Perspective
Emmy Yang, University of North Carolina Hospitals
As a geriatrician, I care for patients with varying stages of cognitive impairment, from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to advanced stages of dementia. Dementia, of all kinds, becomes more prevalent with age. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause with an estimated 7.2 million Americans living with AD and a projected 13.8 million by 2060.1,2 AD recently gained public attention because of the development of new disease-targeting therapies raising questions for patients and clinicians about whether to pursue therapy.3
This paper focuses on AD and shares the story of several of my patients to describe how the medicalization of this disease bears both fruit and limitations. First, I present the evidence for Western allopathic medical treatments including cholinesterase inhibitors and the latest FDA-approved pharmaceuticals for AD—anti-amyloid antibodies. I discuss the ways allied health professionals including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech/cognitive therapy, and nurses play an essential role in the quality of life of individuals with AD. I argue that relationships between patients with AD and their medical team members can be symbiotic: as medical team members accompany individuals living with AD, they engender trust and commitment in a time of increasing social isolation. Patients with AD invite clinicians into the practice of rehearsing rest and slowing down in an otherwise highly cognitive and efficiency-centered workplace environment.
I turn towards discussing the limitations, arguing that medicine as an institution is insufficient in and of itself to wholly sustain and care for people living with dementia. Public discourse reveals the fear and anxiety surrounding the diagnosis and has characterized AD as a “living death.”4 To this despair, medicine itself has little to offer from a traditional “evidence-based” perspective, and I argue that a partnership between medicine and communities—faith communities, in particular —is needed to wholly care for those living with dementia.
Considering these limitations, I identify biblical and theological resources from the Christian tradition to help individuals and families hold onto hope, even after a diagnosis of AD, and address this gap in care. I draw on accounts of personhood (as interdependent and not contingent on cognitive abilities) and present a vision for how congregations can care for their (older) neighbors, turning towards the work of Christian theologians John Swinton, Sarah Moses, Autumn Alcott Ridenour, and Stanley Hauerwas.5-8
My goals for this session would be that clergy and lay persons would feel equipped with knowledge about the medical treatment of AD and a practical theology that helps them in their own journeys with aging and/or dementia.
This paper focuses on AD and shares the story of several of my patients to describe how the medicalization of this disease bears both fruit and limitations. First, I present the evidence for Western allopathic medical treatments including cholinesterase inhibitors and the latest FDA-approved pharmaceuticals for AD—anti-amyloid antibodies. I discuss the ways allied health professionals including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech/cognitive therapy, and nurses play an essential role in the quality of life of individuals with AD. I argue that relationships between patients with AD and their medical team members can be symbiotic: as medical team members accompany individuals living with AD, they engender trust and commitment in a time of increasing social isolation. Patients with AD invite clinicians into the practice of rehearsing rest and slowing down in an otherwise highly cognitive and efficiency-centered workplace environment.
I turn towards discussing the limitations, arguing that medicine as an institution is insufficient in and of itself to wholly sustain and care for people living with dementia. Public discourse reveals the fear and anxiety surrounding the diagnosis and has characterized AD as a “living death.”4 To this despair, medicine itself has little to offer from a traditional “evidence-based” perspective, and I argue that a partnership between medicine and communities—faith communities, in particular —is needed to wholly care for those living with dementia.
Considering these limitations, I identify biblical and theological resources from the Christian tradition to help individuals and families hold onto hope, even after a diagnosis of AD, and address this gap in care. I draw on accounts of personhood (as interdependent and not contingent on cognitive abilities) and present a vision for how congregations can care for their (older) neighbors, turning towards the work of Christian theologians John Swinton, Sarah Moses, Autumn Alcott Ridenour, and Stanley Hauerwas.5-8
My goals for this session would be that clergy and lay persons would feel equipped with knowledge about the medical treatment of AD and a practical theology that helps them in their own journeys with aging and/or dementia.
- Cao Q, Tan CC, Xu W, et al. The Prevalence of Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Alzheimers Dis. 2020;73(3):1157-1166. doi:10.3233/JAD-191092
- 2025 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2025;21(4)doi:10.1002/alz.70235
- Guo X, Yue R, Cui Z, et al. Advances of therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer's disease. J Neurol. Oct 17 2025;272(10):705. doi:10.1007/s00415-025-13456-8
- Peel E. 'The living death of Alzheimer's' versus 'Take a walk to keep dementia at bay': representations of dementia in print media and carer discourse. Sociol Health Illn. Jul 2014;36(6):885-901. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12122
- Moses SM. Ethics and the Elderly : The Challenge of Long-Term Care. Orbis Books; 2015.
- Ridenour AA. Sabbath Rest as Vocation : Aging Towards Death. 1st ed. T&T clark; 2018.
- Swinton J. Dementia : living in the memories of God. SCM Press; 2012.
- Hauerwas S. God, medicine, and suffering. Wm. B. Eerdmans; 1990.