Full Description
An estimated 80 million people live with a neurodegenerative disease. That number is expected to increase rapidly as populations age, lifespans increase, and exposure to toxins rises. Despite decades of research and billions in funding, there are no medications that can slow, much less stop, the progress of these diseases. This is because diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's do not exist in biology. Yet, hundreds of clinical trials around the world are examining the potential of single therapies in thousands of people sharing one of these labels. Compounding the problem, these therapies were developed on evidence from models that do not come close to capturing the complexity of these diseases in the affected humans. These practices must end. Brain Fables is a call to refocus on understanding living and aging to create the personalized treatments each affected individual desperately needs.
Contents
Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. The shaky six and the 'second reality'; 2. Pieces of a puzzle?; 3. Disease 'redefinition': a tough pill to swallow; 4. Disease subtypes: the promise and the fallacy; 5. Protein paradox; 6. The fault in our models; 7. Biomarkers: the promise and the fallacy; 8. Lessons from oncology; 9. Symptomatic vs. disease-modifying therapies; 10. The hypothesis that refuses to die; 11. Our living dissonance; 12. The scientific and lay narratives; 13. Challenges viewed from afar; 14. The moonshot: population-based studies of aging; 15. Predictions for the 2020s and beyond; Epilogue. 'When will we have a cure for Parkinson's disease?"; Note added at press time; References; Index.
