Alzheimer's Disease therapeutics: current and future therapies

Pathologically, Alzheimer's Disease is characterized by amyloidal protein plaques that lead to dementia in the elderly population. While advances have been made in therapeutics over the course of the last 20 years, the drugs generally target the symptoms rather than the underlying pathology. Unfortunately, despite the advances, the mechanisms behind Alzheimer's Disease have still not been clearly identified. Some of these current treatments include acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor agonists. Recently, the pathophysiology behind this disease is becoming more clearly understood and this has led to some novel therapeutic targets that may be able to break the barrier and target the underlying disease. In this review, we will discuss Alzheimer's Disease pathology and the pharmacological therapy that has been in use for a long time as well as novel therapies.