Neurochemical Aspects of Neurotraumatic and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neurotraumatic (stroke, spinal cord trauma, and traumatic head injury) and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington disease, and prion disease) are afflicting aging Americans with increasing frequency. These diseases result in acute, as well as gradual and progressive neurodegeneration, leading to brain dysfunction. Known risk factors for stroke and neurodegenerative diseases include increasing age, genetic polymorphisms, endocrine dysfunction, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, infection, and exposure to neurotoxins. In contrast, spinal cord trauma and traumatic brain injury due to motorcycle and car accidents are major causes of death and disability among young people below the mid-thirties. Although molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases remain elusive, oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, inflammation, misfolding, aggregation, and accumulation of proteins, perturbed Ca2+ homeostasis, and apoptosis have been implicated as possible causes of neurodegeneration in the above neurological disorders. In 2005, the global prevalence of neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases was estimated at 35 million, with more than seven million new cases occurring each year. It is calculated that the number of people affected with neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases will double every 20 years, to 100 million by 2040, if a cure is not discovered. More than 60% of dementia cases are due to Alzheimer disease. Today, approximately six million individuals in the US suffer from Alzheimer disease alone, representing one in eight individuals over the age of 65-70. §Neurochemical Aspects of Neurotraumatic and Neurodegenerative Diseases presents readers with a cutting edge and comprehensive overview of neurochemical aspects of neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases and their potential therapeutic strategies in a manner that is useful not only to graduate students and teachers, but also to research scientists and clinicians. §About the Author: §Dr. Akhlaq A. Farooqui is a leader in the field of brain phospholipases, lipid mediators, glutamate neurotoxicity and neurological disorders. Dr. Farooqui has authored five monographs: Glycerophospholipids in Brain: Phospholipase A2 in Neurological Disorders (2007); Neurochemical Aspects of Excitotoxicity (2008); Metabolism and Functions of Bioactive Ether Lipids in Brain (2008); Hot Topics in Neural Membrane Lipidology (2009), and Beneficial Effects of Fish Oil on Human Brain (2009). All monographs are published by Springer. Dr. Farooqui has also edited two books: Biogenic Amines: Pharmacological, Neurochemical and Molecular Aspects in the CNS Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, N.Y (2010) and Molecular Aspects of Neurodegeneration and Neuroprotection, Bentham Science Publishers Ltd (2010).