1. Drug development in dementia
- Author
-
Anthony Peter Passmore and Emma L. Cunningham
- Subjects
Drug ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Amyloid ,media_common.quotation_subject ,tau Proteins ,Disease ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Cognition ,Alzheimer Disease ,mental disorders ,medicine ,Dementia ,Humans ,Insulin ,Psychiatry ,Clinical syndrome ,Neuroinflammation ,media_common ,Inflammation ,Neurotransmitter Agents ,business.industry ,Obstetrics and Gynecology ,Level of functioning ,medicine.disease ,Drug development ,business ,Cognition Disorders ,Neuroscience - Abstract
Dementia is a progressive, irreversible decline in cognition that, by definition, impacts on a patient's pre-existing level of functioning. The clinical syndrome of dementia has several aetiologies of which Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common. Drug development in AD is based on evolving pathophysiological theory. Disease modifying approaches include the targeting of amyloid processing, aggregation of tau, insulin signalling, neuroinflammation and neurotransmitter dysfunction, with efforts thus far yielding abandoned hopes and ongoing promise. Reflecting its dominance on the pathophysiological stage the amyloid cascade is central to many of the emerging drug therapies. The long preclinical phase of the disease requires robust biomarker means of identifying those at risk if timely intervention is to be possible.
- Published
- 2013