Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases are a heterogeneous group of disorders or conditions characterised by the progressive degeneration of the structure and function of the central nervous system or the peripheral nervous system. Some are considered to be caused by protein misfolding, some involve disruptions to intracellular processes such as mitochondrial function or protein degradation pathways, and some are genetic in origin. Whatever the original cause of the disease, the greatest risk factor for most of these diseases is increasing age. This book is mostly focused on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), yet in this chapter we describe Alzheimer’s as well as other major neurodegenerative conditions to demonstrate both similarities and differences.