Brain Disorders

Neurological brain disorders—such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease—inflict great pain and suffering on patients and their families, and every year costs the U.S. economy billions of dollars. Biopharmaceutical research companies are developing 444 new medicines to prevent and treat neurological disorders. The medicines in development are either in human clinical trials or under review at the Food and Drug Administration. Other medicines in development target amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brain injuries, Huntington’s disease, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and stroke. Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, and its impact on patients and the health care system is growing. Existing medicines are able to treat the symptoms of the disease but cannot slow, prevent, or reverse the progressive dementia. Disease-modifying treatments that could delay the onset of the disease could reduce the cost of care of Alzheimer’s patients in 2050 by $447 billion. Researchers continue to unravel the mysteries of the disease and are studying many new treatments in this area. Recent research has focused on the plaques and tangles which form in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients and are thought to contribute to the death of nerve cells. A gene therapy also in clinical trials is being explored by the experts in the field globally in Neuro Forum 2020 to restore lost neuron function.