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Drug Therapy of Alzheimer’s Disease: Cholinesterase Inhibitors, NMDA Antagonists

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Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alzheimer's Disease

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Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the brain’s progressive neuronal diseases named after Aloes Alzheimer, a German physician who first described it in 1906. AD is one of the most widespread forms of dementia, presenting one of the biggest healthcare challenges in developed countries. AD causes a reduction in cognitive function and language ability. Multi-target inhibitors have been developed as AD is a multifactorial disease. There is no effective treatment capable of slowing down disease progression. Recently, the primary focus of research is on novel pharmacotherapies. Several current drugs taken to treat the disease have repulsive side effects and new substitutes. There is no therapy for AD, but medicines are available that are designed to slow disease progression. Various studies have shown that some herbs may improve brain function; however, experimental data is limited to prove that they can treat AD. The objective here is to provide a systematic review of AD’s factors, viz., environmental toxicity and genetic predisposition, and ongoing treatment strategies used to treat it. Additionally, this review presents the current status and future directions for developing novel drugs with pharmacological activity. Evidence about the use of medicinal herbs in treating AD and symptoms related to AD is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Natural Science, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

    Sana Nafees

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Dentistry, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

    Md Faiz Akram

  3. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

    Md Asad Khan

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  1. Sana Nafees
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  2. Md Faiz Akram
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  3. Md Asad Khan
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. King Fahd Medical Research Center Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Ghulam Md Ashraf

  2. Department of Science and Engineering, Novel Global Community Educational Foundation, Sydney, Australia

    Athanasios Alexiou

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Nafees, S., Akram, M.F., Khan, M.A. (2021). Drug Therapy of Alzheimer’s Disease: Cholinesterase Inhibitors, NMDA Antagonists. In: Md Ashraf, G., Alexiou, A. (eds) Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alzheimer's Disease . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4558-7_6

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