The most common neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs) in developed countries are Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), though over 50 different NDDs are known to affect the general population. Dementia and PD are among the top 15 conditions with the highest increase in disease burden in recent years, and an estimated 45–50 million people currently suffer from dementia with predicted increases to 75 million by 2030 and 145 million by 2050 based on the diagnosis of 7.7 million new cases/year. The prevalence of PD ranges from 35.8 per 100,000 to 12,500 per 100,000, with an annual incidence ranging from 1.5 per 100,000 to 346 per 100,000 in different countries. PD has been found to coexist with dementia and depression in over 25% of cases. In addition to different forms of dementia and Parkinson-like disorders, other NNDs of clinical relevance include demyelinating disorders and motor-neuron disease.
The cost-effectiveness of interventions for most brain disorders ranges between US$100 and US$2000 per healthy life year gained. However, drug effectiveness is lower than 30% for most neuropsychiatric disorders, which may coexist with NDDs.
AD and PD, along with many other NDDs, share some common features, including (i) polygenic/complex defects in conjunction with epigenetic changes, cerebrovascular dysfunction and environmental risk factors; (ii) age-related onset, with prevalence increasing in parallel with age; (iii) a progressive neuronal degeneration that begins in early periods of life, with clinical manifestation occurring decades later; (iv) conformational changes in proteins responsible for the abnormal deposition of neurotoxic byproducts; (v) lack of specific biomarkers for a predictive diagnosis and/or early detection; and (vi) no curative treatments.
This Special Issue of JERP provides an open door to new ideas and initiatives on the pathogenic mechanisms underlying NNDs, which will be the basis for future treatments that will be more effective than those we currently have.
Therefore, we invite all interested authors to contribute their ideas in this intellectual platform offered by JERP to young researchers and experts in NNDs to motivate and stimulate research and the search for new therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of NDDs. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease
- Pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease
- Pathogenesis of other neurodegenerative disorders
- Genomics
- Epigenetics
- Biomarkers
- Preventive strategies
- Novel treatments
- Pharmacogenetics