| The average age of our population continues to increase as the result of advances in diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancers. Unfortunately, a progressive increase in the numbers of persons with age-related neurodegenerative diseases has accompanied the increase in lifespan. Neurodegenerative diseases can be divided into two general categories: acute and chronic. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system associated with progressive cognitive and memory loss. Molecular hallmarks of the disease are characterized by extracellular deposition of the amyloid β peptide (Aβ) in senile plaques, the appearance of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), cholinergic deficit, extensive neuronal loss and synaptic changes in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus and other areas of brain essential for cognitive and memory functions. Ischemic stroke, an acute neurodegenerative disorder, manifests a range of neurological deficits that are related to death of neurons supplied by the affected blood vessels; stroke kills approximately 200,000 Americans each year, is the third leading cause of death worldwide, and is a major cause of disability in the elderly. Although the histopathological features observed in the two diseases mentioned above are different, and different populations of neurons in the brain die in each disorder, many aspects of the biochemical cascades that result in neuronal death are shared, such as oxidative stress, calcium dysregulation, excitotoxicity, and...
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