The Alzheimer's Disease Challenge

The repeated failed clinical trials on the amyloid based medications and the pessimistic calculations of Alzheimer's disease cost burden for the next few decades present a very serious challenge for mankind with severe social implications. Since it has been nearly impossible to suggest a holistic solution for the disease, several alternative diagnostic and treatment procedures have been presented during the last years, without forgetting the latest Alzheimer's classification. Applied mathematicians would probably characterize the disease as a NP-hard problem (non-deterministic polynomial-time hard problem) and all the most recent management approaches as optimization efforts.

In fact, the widest area of scientific fields which are actively involved in the Alzheimer's disease race is impressively extended in order to combine creative ideas of modern technology with innovative therapeutic agents and traditional pharmaceutical practices to identify common etiologies and mechanisms in other related disorders or factors of human frailty.

Several alterations in human biology reveals the multiparametric character of the disease. Gene Mutations, Proteins Misfolding, Brain Biochemical and Histopathological Changes, Behavioral Changes, Nutrition and Metabolism Alterations and Autonomic Dysfunctions due to Central Nervous System dysregulations like the deficits in cholinergic function are common signs and probably early diagnostic biomarkers in most of the Alzheimer's classification categories.

The purpose of this Research Topic is to highlight in depth the scientific inquiry against Alzheimer's Disease in the era of an already aging population, converging the entire spectrum of complementary approaches beside the classic medication treatments, and presenting state-of-the-art original research articles, reviews, case study, methods, hypothesis/theory, opinions and letters, commentary, etc.