What Is a Neurodegenerative Disease?

Neurodegenerative diseases are caused by the loss of neurons and / or their myelin sheaths, which worsen over time and become dysfunctional.

Neurodegenerative diseases are caused by the loss of neurons and / or their myelin sheaths, which worsen over time and become dysfunctional.

Chinese name

Neurodegenerative disease

Foreign name

Neurodegenerative disease

Causes of neurodegenerative diseases and common diseases:

(A) oxidative stress:

Oxidative stress is caused by the excessive production of free radicals and / or failure to clear them in time, and the imbalance between oxidative and antioxidant effects in the body, resulting in damage to cells and tissues of the body. Free radicals are atoms or groups with unpaired electrons, including hydroxyl radicals (OH ·), superoxide anions (O ·), nitric oxide (NO), and the like. In recent years, oxidative damage to neural tissue has been found in neurodegenerative diseases such as AD, PD, and ALS.

(2) Mitochondrial dysfunction:

There are mtDNA defects and oxidative phosphorylation abnormalities in the brain of AD patients. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and blot hybridization tests revealed that mtDNA breaks, base deletions, and missense mutations appeared in the brain tissue of patients with sporadic AD. Electron microscopy confirmed that the number of mitochondria increased, the structure was abnormal, and lamellar and crystalline inclusions appeared. In addition, neuron mitochondrial dysfunction in AD patients will lead to insufficient energy supply of neurons and release a large amount of ROS, induce oxidative stress damage, imbalance of calcium regulation, and eventually trigger neuronal apoptosis.

(3) Excitatory toxins:

When the glutamate concentration in the intercellular space is too high, it will cause neuronal toxicity, leading to neuron degradation, aging and death. This excitotoxic effect of glutamic acid is closely related to the occurrence and development of various neurodegenerative diseases, and is one of the important mechanisms leading to the death of neurons in neurodegenerative diseases.

(4) Immune inflammation:

Much evidence suggests that inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AD. The innate immune system is a natural immune defense function formed during germline development and evolution. Compared with another specific immune response of the body, it can respond quickly to various harmful substances to protect the body. The activation of the innate immune system itself is a double-edged sword. Prolonged and uncontrollable stimulation of harmful substances (such as aggregated forms of A), which activates the innate immune system, can cause damaging effects on the brain.

Differential diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases :

It can be divided into acute neurodegenerative diseases and chronic neurodegenerative diseases. The former includes cerebral ischemia (CI), brain injury (BI), and epilepsy; the latter includes Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease ( PD), Huntington's disease (HD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), different types of spinal cerebellar ataxia (SCA), Pick's disease, etc.

Cognitive examination of neurodegenerative diseases :

Cognitive test is strictly called cognitive ability test, which refers to the test of partial ability from the perspective of cognition. Therefore, cognitive ability test is a subset of ability test, which can be called the same as intelligence test. Intelligence tests generally assess an individual's ability from a cognitive perspective.

Principles of treatment of neurodegenerative diseases :

Given the diversity of causative factors of neurodegenerative diseases. Blocking one or two pathways does not significantly reduce the overall dysfunction and loss of neurons. With the deepening of the research on neurodegenerative diseases, the advantages of multi-channel and multi-target treatments can improve the symptoms of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, regulate brain function, and play a good therapeutic role. On the other hand, the pathological changes accompanying the onset of neurodegenerative diseases are irreversible. When patients have cognitive impairment, the course of disease often has reached the middle and advanced stages. At this time, treatment can only slow the development of the disease, and cannot fundamentally reverse the neural network Damage. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases should be tried to prevent further development of the disease.