An Overview of Neurodegenerative Disorders

Neurodegenerative diseases are late-onset devastating conditions that damage and destroy part of the nervous system, particularly the brain. The process of disease manifestation is slow but it affects many physiological activities like eating, walking, and speaking, and thereby, patients suffer enormously during the later stages of their life. Some of the main types of neurodegenerative diseases are Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Lewy body dementia, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), etc. Interestingly, the clinical course, symptoms, genetic origin, and molecular processes of pathogenesis of most neurodegenerative disorders are similar. A subset of neurons is principally impacted by each neurodegenerative disease, and these disorders entail distinct ranges of molecular and clinical properties. In the present chapter, we have discussed about multiple aspects related to key neurodegenerative diseases including their prevalence, major cause, mechanism, and symptoms. We propose that a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disease is required to develop more effective, disease-modifying treatments.