Researchers seem to have made significant progress in identifying Alzheimer’s disease risk factors and developing treatments that might delay or prevent onset of the disease.
The study provides the 4 pillars of preventive medicine - identification of disease-related and lifestyle risk factors, pathologic consequences and impact of AD risk factors, detection of AD risk factors and treatment of AD risk factors. According to Guest editor Jack C. de la Torre, MD, Ph.D., from the Centre for Alzheimer’s Research, Banner Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, Arizona, USA, pre-clinical AD become responsive to early detection of risk factors and targeted treatments aimed at reducing the severity and progress of the discovered pathology. And since there is no effective treatment options, prevention becomes the alternate and essential primary weapon to combat the disease.
The approach would be a boon to millions of people who face a range of maladies associated with aging and cognitive decline-including multiple risk factors that can culminate in dementia.
The authors have chalked out an AD preventive plan, which includes - early identification of AD risk factors, early intervention based on evidence-based medical decisions and patient follow ups.
“Moving AD from inevitable to avoidable is what we are all hoping for as we understand the disease,” commented George Perry, Ph.D. and Mark A. Smith, Ph.D., Editors-in-Chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The study appears in the Special Issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, ‘Basics of Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention.’