Gerontology & Geriatric Research

Abstract

Can We Accelerate the Path towards Therapy for Amyloid-Related Diseases?

Gal Bitan

Aging is a growing problem in the developed and developing world. As life span has been increasing steadily over the last few decades and a large percentage of people live into the 9th and 10th decade of their life, the prevalence of aging-related diseases has been growing steadily, posing new challenges to healthcare systems and economies around the world. These changes have come about thanks to large strides in medical development, which allows people to survive diseases that used to be major causes of mortality in the past. Though antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains are a growing threat, most common infectious diseases can be treated effectively, many can be cured. Multiple types of cancers that used to be considered as a death sentence a decade or two ago now can be treated and often cured. AIDS is significantly more manageable today than it was a decade ago. However, with the increase in life span, a class of diseases for which currently there is no cure has emerged as a major threat particularly among the elderly – diseases called amyloidoses, which are characterized by aberrant protein folding and aggregation.