Alzheimer’s Disease: Current and Future Treatments. A Review
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disorder whose treatment poses a big challenge. Proposed causes of AD include the cholinergic, amyloid and tau hypotheses. Current therapeutic treatments have been aimed at dealing with the neurotransmitter imbalance. These include...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
2014-05-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Medical Students |
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| Online Access: | http://ijms.info/IJMS/article/view/85 |
| _version_ | 1797762669649854464 |
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| author | Evelyn Chou |
| author_facet | Evelyn Chou |
| author_sort | Evelyn Chou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disorder whose treatment poses a big challenge. Proposed causes of AD include the cholinergic, amyloid and tau hypotheses. Current therapeutic treatments have been aimed at dealing with the neurotransmitter imbalance. These include cholinesterase inhibitors and N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists. However, current therapeutics have been unable to halt AD progression. Much research has gone into the development of disease-modifying drugs to interfere with the course of the disease. Approaches include secretase inhibition and immunotherapy aimed at reducing plaque deposition. However, these have not been successful in curing AD as yet. It is believed that the main reason why therapeutics have failed to work is that treatment begins too late in the course of the disease. The future of AD treatment thus appears to lie with prevention rather than cure. In this article, current therapeutics and, from there, the future of AD treatment are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:30:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a0ba52d0de194e949adec1595437be54 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-6327 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:30:47Z |
| publishDate | 2014-05-01 |
| publisher | University Library System, University of Pittsburgh |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Medical Students |
| spelling | doaj.art-a0ba52d0de194e949adec1595437be542023-08-02T04:33:27ZengUniversity Library System, University of PittsburghInternational Journal of Medical Students2076-63272014-05-0122566310.5195/ijms.2014.8585Alzheimer’s Disease: Current and Future Treatments. A ReviewEvelyn Chou0King’s College London, England.Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disorder whose treatment poses a big challenge. Proposed causes of AD include the cholinergic, amyloid and tau hypotheses. Current therapeutic treatments have been aimed at dealing with the neurotransmitter imbalance. These include cholinesterase inhibitors and N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists. However, current therapeutics have been unable to halt AD progression. Much research has gone into the development of disease-modifying drugs to interfere with the course of the disease. Approaches include secretase inhibition and immunotherapy aimed at reducing plaque deposition. However, these have not been successful in curing AD as yet. It is believed that the main reason why therapeutics have failed to work is that treatment begins too late in the course of the disease. The future of AD treatment thus appears to lie with prevention rather than cure. In this article, current therapeutics and, from there, the future of AD treatment are discussed.http://ijms.info/IJMS/article/view/85alzheimer’s diseasedisease-modifying drugsbeta-secretase inhibitorsgamma-secretase inhibitorscholinergicamyloidtau |
| spellingShingle | Evelyn Chou Alzheimer’s Disease: Current and Future Treatments. A Review International Journal of Medical Students alzheimer’s disease disease-modifying drugs beta-secretase inhibitors gamma-secretase inhibitors cholinergic amyloid tau |
| title | Alzheimer’s Disease: Current and Future Treatments. A Review |
| title_full | Alzheimer’s Disease: Current and Future Treatments. A Review |
| title_fullStr | Alzheimer’s Disease: Current and Future Treatments. A Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Alzheimer’s Disease: Current and Future Treatments. A Review |
| title_short | Alzheimer’s Disease: Current and Future Treatments. A Review |
| title_sort | alzheimer s disease current and future treatments a review |
| topic | alzheimer’s disease disease-modifying drugs beta-secretase inhibitors gamma-secretase inhibitors cholinergic amyloid tau |
| url | http://ijms.info/IJMS/article/view/85 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT evelynchou alzheimersdiseasecurrentandfuturetreatmentsareview |