About the Special Issue

In 2019, the number of people living with dementia reached 57 million; by 2050, it is estimated to increase to 152 million. Due to a lack of desirable progress in pharmacological solutions addressing modifiable risk factors and lifestyle intervention becomes critical for public health. Indeed, success in the preventive approach to diseases is expected to improve the quality of life and, in the end, be economically efficient [1–4].

The risk factors for major neurodegenerative duseases considerably overlap and lead to oxidative stress and energy deficiency [5–7]. Analysis of the preceding disease determinants reveals that disrupted glucose metabolism associated with oxidative stress and neuroinflammation is the common end state of most, if not all, risk factors prior to the neurodegenerative duseases initiation [8]. As the result of analogous risk factors [5], major sporadic neurodegenerative duseases reveal similar detrimental hallmarks in the early stages, suggesting that these pathologies share common pathways initially. It is reasonable to propose therefore that uncovering the primary cause of these abnormalities might give a clue to efficient disease prevention. 

In the proposed thematic collection, we suggest focusing on the modifiable risk factors for neurodegeneration. According to Lancet's 2020 report [9], 40% of dementia’s risk factors can be prevented or delayed with adjunctive non-pharmacological therapies including lifestyle modifications. Dementia tends to be diagnosed in populations with less enriched intellectual environment, uncontrolled hypertension, uncorrected hearing impairment, smoking, obesity, depression, insufficient physical inactivity and diabetes. 

We welcome evidence-based experimental, review and position papers in the intersection of the neuroscience and neurodegeneration on one hand and preventive and adjunctive regimes on the other hand, in the following fields: 

● Evidence-based theoretical considerations and hypotheses;

● Neuroprotectors in foods, herbal preparations and supplements;

● Macronutrient compositions and neuroprotective effects. Low-fat, low-carbohydrates, high-protein and ketogenic diets; 

● Timing: neuroprotective regimes, time-restricted eating, periodic and intermittent fasting. 

References 

1. McDade E, Bateman RJ Stop Alzheimer’s before It Starts. Nature. 2017; 547(7662):153–155. 

2. GBD 2019 Dementia Forecasting Collaborators Estimation of the Global Prevalence of Dementia in 2019 and Forecasted Prevalence in 2050: An Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet Public Health. 2022; 7(2):e105–e125. 

3. Livingston G, Sommerlad A, Orgeta V, Costafreda SG, Huntley J, Ames D, et al. Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care. Lancet. 2017; 390(10113):2673–2734. 

4. Mills SM, Mallmann J, Santacruz AM, Fuqua A, Carril M, Aisen PS, et al. Preclinical Trials in Autosomal Dominant AD: Implementation of the DIAN-TU Trial. Rev. Neurol. . 2013; 169(10):737–743. 

5. Armstrong R What Causes Neurodegenerative Disease? Folia Neuropathol. 2020; 58(2):93–112. 

6. Kim C-K, Sachdev PS, Braidy N Recent Neurotherapeutic Strategies to Promote Healthy Brain Aging: Are We There Yet? Aging Dis. 2022; 13(1):175–214. 

7. Avitan I, Halperin Y, Saha T, Bloch N, Atrahimovich D, Polis B, et al. Towards a Consensus on Alzheimer’s Disease Comorbidity? J. Clin. Med. Res. 2021; 10(19):4360. 

8. Zilberter Y, Zilberter M The Vicious Circle of Hypometabolism in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Ways and Mechanisms of Metabolic Correction. J. Neurosci. Res. 2017; 95(11):2217–2235. 

9. Livingston G, Huntley J, Sommerlad A, Ames D, Ballard C, Banerjee S, et al. Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care: 2020 Report of the Lancet Commission. Lancet. 2020; 396(10248):413–446.

Call for Papers