Medical advances now mean that people are living longer than ever before. But while this is a wonderful achievement, increased mortality has come with an unexpected downside. Over the years, neurodegenerative disease has risen dramatically.
This umbrella term describes painful, debilitating and – ultimately – fatal conditions that are typified by the dysfunction of neurons in the brain. Neurons are vital to survival and essential in the nervous system, which communicates messages from the brain and spinal cord to parts of the body.
They, too, are finite and delicate. When neurons die, the body is unable to replace them. And so the prognosis for illnesses that compromises them is grave indeed.
Some of the most common diseases associated with neurogenic dysfunction include Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS – better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). All of these have grim prognoses for individual sufferers.
Perhaps one of the most rapid neurodegenerative diseases is ALS, which became highly publicised thanks to the recent social media phenomenon: the Ice Bucket Challenge. ALS is a progressive, deadly affliction that attacks neurons implicated in muscle movement. As these neurons shut down, the body does too. Over half of patients with a diagnosis die three years later.
Neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and AD are not only a death sentence, but provide weeks, months and years of mental and physical pain, as well as financial strain, for those afflicted and their loved ones.
Even worse is that they show no signs of going away: statistics from ALS Association show that there are currently 30,000 patients with the disease – and 6,000 new cases each year. Alzheimer’s deaths have increased by 71 percent over the last decade. The numbers grow all the time.
In spite of the prominence of neurodegenerative disease, scientists have had an enormous task on their hands combatting them. These are complex disorders, requiring nuanced approaches, and thus solutions have been slow to arrive.
During this time, both ALS and other neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, have remained incurable and impossible to prevent, slow or reverse. The only drug available for ALS, approved almost two decades ago, offers just two to three extra months of survival.
For too long scientists focused on methodologies that did not work; after 20 years examining SOD1, the first gene implicated in ALS, scientists are still searching for a cure. Since SOD1 is only responsible for two percent of ALS cases, the majority of patients are still seeking new approaches.
Ageing populations have made neurodegenerative disease a ticking time bomb. The National Institute on Aging anticipates that there will soon be more people in the world over the age of 65 than under five. For many, old age will not be a blessing, but a curse. By 2025, researchers expect the number of people with Parkinson’s to double from its 2005 level to 8.7m; Alzheimer’s will triple by 2050, and ALS to increase by 70 percent.
Overall, the science of neurology – by virtue of its difficulty – has struggled to find answers to some of today’s biggest medical problems. New treatments are urgently required to solve neurodegenerative disease, and give people their lives back.
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