Microglia: cell therapy for Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia (>70% of the cases). Although it was discovered more than one century ago, the existing treatments for AD only produce a modest amelioration of the symptoms and there is still no available cure. AD not only causes severe distress to the patients and caregivers, but it is also associated with a large economic burden to society, since after the age of 65, the risk of developing AD doubles every five years, and by the age 85 the prevalence increases to 50%. This large and global impact is inherently associated with current major challenges in AD, which include the lack of effective treatments, preventive strategies and reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis. [Continues.]