title: Drug treatments in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Despite the significant public health issue that it poses, only five medical treatments have been approved for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and these act to control symptoms rather than alter the course of the disease. Studies of potential disease-modifying therapy have generally been undertaken in patients with clinically detectable disease, yet evidence suggests that the pathological changes associated with AD begin several years before this. It is possible that pharmacological therapy may be beneficial in this pre-clinical stage before the neurodegenerative process is established. Techniques providing earlier diagnosis, such as cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and amyloid positron emission tomography neuroimaging, are key to testing this theory in clinical trials. Recent results from trials of agents such as aducanumab are encouraging but must also be interpreted with caution. Such medicines could potentially delay the onset of dementia and would therefore markedly reduce its prevalence. However, we currently remain a good distance away from clinically available disease-modifying therapy.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ageing, Neuroscience and the Humanities, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ageing, Neuroscience and the Humanities, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Sean P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Kennelly
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ageing, Neuroscience and the Humanities, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Desmond
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: O'Neill
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D000682:Amyloid / Q000378:metabolism; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; amyloid; pharmacological therapy