A holistic insight into neurodegeneration

Neurodegenerative diseases are defined by a progressive and irreversible impairment of neurons. Despite being a very heterogeneous group of pathologies, they share some common features, such as their multifactorial origin and their close correlation with ageing. As worldwide life expectancy increases, these diseases have become a tough challenge for healthcare systems as their prevalence is raising in the same way. The most important neurodegenerative disorders, because of their prevalence or their health impact, are Alzheimer´s, Parkinson´s and Huntington´s diseases; and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The knowledge about their origin is still very poor, so their clinical management is far from being adequate. There are not reliable methods for early diagnosis, so these diseases are usually detected when tissue damage is irreparable. Furthermore, current available therapies are intended only for symptomatic relief, since the misunderstanding about the real causes of these diseases and their delayed diagnosis hinder the development of new treatments being able to stop or even reverse the structural and functional decline. In the last few years, some pathological events have been identified as potential key factors to understand the origin of neurodegeneration. Among them, we shall mention oxidative stress, impaired proteostasis and neuroinflammation: a deeper knowledge about their interconnections and their ability to feedback each other could provide valuable information to progress towards an effective clinical management of neurodegenerative disorders.