The awareness of economic and social impacts of neurodegenerative along with psychiatric conditions and disorders have significantly increased over the years, resulting in a grown demand for appropriate and effective treatment options. Both fields of neurology and psychiatry remain active areas for research and development. As a result, patients are treated with innovative therapies and positive feedback is received.
World Health Organization (WHO) identifies dementia as a public health priority with approximately ten million new-found cases annually and Alzheimer’s disease as the most frequent type. Unfortunately, there is no medication currently available to treat dementia or to modify its progression pace. Numerous innovative therapies are being investigated in both early and late stages of Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials which are essential part for preclinical assets to reach patients. This long way of research is ahead of new pharmacological agent BPN14770 which shows a protective effect against memory loss in early experimental stages. Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials are promising to change identification of dementia as a curable disorder.
There are also various technology innovations used for research. The gene-editing technique CRISPR broke through in 2017 and currently this technology is being used to find new screening tools for Parkinson’s disease. Researchers at the University of Florida have applied CRISPR to insert the gene for luciferin/luciferase into neurons. The bioluminescence measures the brain protein alpha-synuclein and abnormal levels are associated with Parkinson’s disease. This scientific work will improve development of effective medications and prevention of this disease.
More than 300 million people suffer from common mental disorder well-known as depression. It is a challenging mental condition which can lead to suicide attempt. Fortunately, there is an effective depression treatment combination of psychological and pharmacological therapies. Innovative choice of treatment with Esketamine is a result of the latest depression clinical trials and this pharmacological agent made an important breakthrough for its remarkable antidepressant effect. It is believed that novel medications like Esketamine can significantly change life of patients with treatment-resistant depression.
