RECENT ADVANCES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease is a disease of the elderly, mainly affecting people above 60 years of age. It is turning out to be a major public health problem with an estimated 4.7% of the population above 60 years of age (35.6 million) worldwide to be affected by dementia in 2010. The clinical diagnosis is basically a diagnosis of exclusion using various memory tests like MMSE (Mini Mental Score Examination), ADAS-Cog (Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive domain) to assess the cognitive loss and laboratory tests to rule out other causes of dementia. Imaging procedures like CT, MRI are used to detect the structural changes and PET scans are used to detect the glucose metabolism & amyloid deposits in brain. CSF biomarkers amyloid β₄₂, tau and phosphotau proteins are now used in AD diagnosis the deposition of Aβ₄₂ - amyloid plaques in the brain is considered the basic pathology. Aβ₄₂ is derived from Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) by the sequential action of β-secretase and γ-secretase. Pharmacological Management: Only five drugs are approved by FDA for the treatment of alzheimer’s disease which are as Cholinesterase inhibitors like Tacrine, Rivastigmine, Donepezil, Galantamine. And NMDA antagonist likes Memantine.