Two take-aways from the recently concluded Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Copenhagen: First, after years of research, we still know remarkably little about what causes dementia or how to prevent or delay it. Second, the dementia establishment, including the Alzheimer’s Association and the White House’s National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, is so focused on a cure that it pays too little attention to the immediate needs of those who already have dementia and those caring for them.

The conference was filled with academic papers based on small, preliminary studies. Researchers are testing every possible variable in older people’s lives to determine if it could be the key to dementia. And the results were all over the place.

The trick is to ignore the breathless accounts of this research that appeared in the popular media.  There is no silver bullet. In fact, the conference made clear that we don’t even quite know what we are shooting at.

One paper found that mental activity could slow the onset of Alzheimer’s. Another concluded that moderate physical activity in middle age might help. Yet another reported that people over 90 with high blood pressure were less likely to suffer from dementia (older research found that hypertension might be a positive indicator). Another suggested that widowhood in old age might slow cognitive decline (I’m not even going there).

Note that all of these suggest environmental or behavioral responses. They largely ignore the complex genetic questions raised by dementia. Are some of us doomed by our genes to suffer from dementia? The best answer is, once again: maybe.

Importantly, three new studies showed that dementia rates may be slowing in the developed world. This research confirms some important earlier work that reached the same conclusion. The reasons for this are much less clear. It may be about better cardiovascular health or perhaps even better education.

Researchers are also focusing on earlier detection. A raft of experimental drugs aimed at slowing the progression of dementia have turned into costly, high-profile flops. By now, most have been abandoned.

But the latest theory making the rounds is that perhaps they were administered too late. If only we could identify likely candidates for dementia even before they begin showing symptoms, these drugs—or others—might be more effective.

One reason for all this uncertainty is that dementia is actually many diseases. While Alzheimer’s has the highest profile, others are related to Parkinson’s Disease, stroke and other vascular diseases, and the like. Many diseases will likely require many different treatments.

But meanwhile, in the U.S. alone 5 million people already suffer from cognitive impairment and 10 million family members are struggling to care for them. At this conference, which brought together researchers from around the world, there was barely a mention of caregiving issues. It was mostly about big bucks medical research.

Nothing wrong with that research, though there is so much money to be made it seems the drug companies ought to be financing it themselves, and without taxpayer help.

In the meantime, let’s acknowledge the painful reality: We are making only slow, incremental progress in the war against Alzheimer’s and other dementias. We are far from prevention or cure. For now, we should increase our focus on living with dementia and caring for those with this condition.