Lifestyle Factors and Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Dedication This Special issue is dedicated to my PhD mentor and friend Prof. Hanan Frenk. I am forever grateful for his guidance, encouragement and support. He taught me how to ask research questions, design experiments, write papers and how to navigate the world of science. His inspiring personal example and integrity are the bedrock of my scientific pursuits. His jokes and unedited advice ring in my ears even thirty years later:-If you work only from 9-5 you will never be a scientist.-If you don't know how to write you will never get a faculty job.-Life is not fair, just keep your focus. And: 'Wow, we published your paper [1]. Let me invite you over to our house for dinner to celebrate'. With the increase in human lifespan, more aging-related cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer's Disease (AD) are being diagnosed. AD is the most common form of dementia and possibly contributes to 60-70% of dementia cases [2]. The impairments associated with this disease are devastating for the patients and their families. According to the World Alzheimer Report 2018, there are about 50 million people worldwide living with dementia and this number may reach 132 million in 2050, accelerating a socioeconomic healthcare crisis. The disease results in accumulation of extracellular amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, or tau pathology , in the brain. These pathologies are considered to impair neuronal function, especially in the hippocam-pus and entorhinal cortex, resulting in cognitive deficits and memory loss [3, 4]. Sadly, there are no effective treatment options for AD patients, and recent clinical trials have resulted in failure [5].