Alzheimers Disease Pathway, second part

Despite decades of intense research, therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease (AD) are still limited to symptomatic treatments that possess only short-term efficacy. There are currently four main mechanisms of action that are being actively developed in AD therapeutics: Drugs aimed at reducing Abeta production, notably secretase inhibitors; Drugs aimed at reducing Aßplaque burden via inhibition of aggregatio or disruption of aggregates; Drugs aimed at promoting Aß clearance via active or passive immunotherapy; and Drugs aimed at preventing tau protein phosphorylation (Ref.11 and 12).Numerous candidate disease-modifying therapies that target the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of AD are currently in clinical trials. While it is not possible to predict the success of any individual program, one or more are likely to prove effective. Indeed, it seems reasonable to predict that in the not-too-distant futu re, a synergistic combination of agents will have the capacity to alter the neurodegenerative cascade and reduce the global impact of this devastating disease (Ref.13).