Catching It Early, Managing It Right: Cognitive Decline and Agitation in Real-World Practice

Diagnosing dementia and managing agitation have both changed, with biomarker-based criteria and blood tests reshaping the workup and new options expanding treatment. This session covers distinguishing normal aging, MCI, and the major dementia syndromes, building a diagnostic workup, and the amyloid, tau, cholinergic, glutamatergic, and agitation neurobiology behind current therapies. Attendees will leave able to apply a stepwise approach to agitation, from reversible causes and non-pharmacologic strategies through a comparison of the FDA-approved pharmacologic options.