Nanotechnology and Alzheimer's disease: what has been done and what to do

Up to date, Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is considered as an "urgency" for public health, since it represents one of the most dramatic causes of death in adults. The drugs currently used for AD are only symptomatic, thus not curing the pathology, but only trying to slow or delay the progression of the pathology. Moreover, there is a total lack of early identification, with only "probable'' or ''possible'' diagnosis of AD patients. With this review, we aimed to individuate and to highlight the most promising approaches for AD therapy and diagnosis. In this view, at the cutting-edge of innovation, nanocarriers as polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, nanoassembly and dendrimers, have been studied and investigated in order to ameliorate the detection (in vitro and in vivo) and/or the therapeutic options in AD. In this review, the most outstanding nanomedicine-driven approaches in AD imaging/detection and treatments are summarized in order to help in individuating values and criticisms. Moreover, an overview of one of the most innovative strategies in AD management, namely theranostic nanomedicine, is reported and commented.