Degenerative diseases (DD) represent a formidable health challenge considering that most if not all DD have not cure or can be prevented. However, despite the cloudy scenario a significant deal of advances has been made to slow the progression allowing the patients to restore some degree in quality of life.
This book brings together different disciplines including genetics, cell biology, immunology, drug design, and metabolism emphasizing the chemical aspects leading to understand the origin of the disease and base on that establishing strategies that could eventually propose more efficient treatments.
A significant progress has been made to understand the etiology related to DD however it is not known exactly which conditions or factor activates mutant genes resulting in the production of aberrant proteins or receptors, although risk factors such as oxidative stress, advanced glycation end products (AGES), age, inheritance, sedentary life, toxic substances and pollution are well known contributors to increase the probability for acquiring a DD.
Therefore, the book describes the most prominent DD, including arthritis, osteoporosis, neuromotor disorders, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s diseases, covering critical aspects related to neurotransmission, receptors, signalling pathways, and the genetics implied in the development of the diseases. In terms of therapies described in the book include the prototypical anti-inflammatories treatments, biomedical devices for cartilage replacement, small drug agonists and antagonists, oligonucleotides, humanised antibodies, and genetically-based therapies.
The book intends to explore the chemical changes occurring during the progress of DD, triggering disruptive effects associated with inflammation, proteolysis, immune attack, aberrant protein deposits, leading to cell death, and derived from this knowledge to describes existing treatments either on the market or under clinical phase to prevent or to restore functionality. Continued efforts are currently being made, giving confidence that more efficient treatments, including curable options, will arrive in the near future, considering that DDs are growing exponentially, affecting populations in all continents and may impact at any age or social status.
