Book Description

In recent years, a tremendous amount of effort has been focused on better understanding the fundamentals of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to facilitate early and accurate diagnosis and appropriately targeted therapeutic treatments. Alzheimer’s Disease: Targets for New Clinical, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Strategies provides a detailed synopsis of the current state of the art of diagnostics and therapeutics and identifies emerging technologies and molecules that show promise in the management and treatment of AD. With contributions from experts drawn from academia, clinical practice, and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, the book explores: The basis of AD and the role of Aβ oligomers in development of disease Existing and emerging in vitro biomarker-based methodologies for the diagnosis of AD, focusing on genetic, biochemical, and conformational strategies In vivo imaging diagnostic approaches Evolving diagnostic criteria, health regulatory guidelines, biomarkers in clinical trials, and available and emerging therapies Recent progress in small-molecule disease-modifier drug discovery efforts for AD, specifically in the areas of Aβ, tau, and emerging neuroprotective/neurorepair approaches How a case study of AD raises issues regarding clinical and pathologic criteria, risk factors, and the amyloid hypothesis The molecular conformational factors that govern the pathogenicity of aggregating proteins, and how these factors could represent new targets for disease-modifying therapies The latest epidemiological, pathological, biochemical, and behavioral studies that may shed some light on the risk of developing AD and similar dementias after traumatic brain injury Examining current hypotheses and suggesting possible new approaches to therapeutic clinical applications, this volume paves the way for a robust pipeline of therapeutics to combat not only AD, but a whole host of other neurodegenerative diseases.