Defining neurodegenerative diseases

doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7352.1465

BMJ 2002;324:1465-1466 ( 22 June )

Editorials

Defining neurodegenerative diseases

Disorders will be named after responsible rogue proteins and their solutions

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Defining neurodegenerative diseases is like defining the continent of Europe: part history, part science, part politics, andto cap it, both could have an effect on health andprosperity.

A big advantage of the term is that it is a concept that patients can relate to from parallels in everyday life. Wearing outin time of certain components $---$ sometimes replaceable, sometimesnot $---$ encompasses principles of selective neuronal death as a primaryevent with age as a major risk factor and good remediespatchy.

Paradoxes abound. Neurodegeneration is a major element and is often the cause of the disability in many diseases not usuallyclassified as degenerative $---$ for example, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy,some inborn errors of metabolism, schizophrenia, and even tumours.Conversely, inflammatory processes are activated and vascularcompromise occurs in some degenerative diseases. A Napoleonicview could encompass most brain diseases under the rubric of neurodegenerative,but this would lack. . . [Full text of this article]

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