ABSTRACT
With the projected increase in the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) as Western society ages, the sense of urgency arising from diagnosis and treatment needs is becoming greater than ever. Advances in neuroimaging have provided new insights into the pathologic changes which occur in AD and biomarkers are being developed for early diagnosis and monitoring disease progression. This chapter summarizes a few key areas which hold promise for the future and discusses the broader implications of an aging society with increased numbers of patients with AD. The stimulation of stress-activated kinases, especially the c Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), has been recognized as an early event in neuronal degeneration associated with AD. Evidence in vitro that inhibition of JNK activation inhibits amyloid beta deposition has led to the development of compounds that block stress kinase signaling.
