Do We Try Mending Humpty Dumpty or Prevent His Fall? An Alzheimer’s Disease Dilemma

Abstract

Abstract

In the popular nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty’s great fall and the inability to put him together again has been used to demonstrate the second law of thermodynamics. An oversimplification of this law states that all things in the universe tend to move from order to disorder, an occurrence that can be applied allegorically to the development and clinical outcome of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). An important argument relevant to the future use of resources and primary focus of AD research arises from the question, do we make it a priority to mend the shattered brain of AD patients or attempt to prevent the brain from shattering? If the former approach continues to be the priority it has become, how exactly do we mend the irreparable neuronal loss and associated cognitive failure in advanced cases of AD? Or, must we change direction and make prevention the primary goal of AD research? The latter approach would identify asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients with high risk of developing dementia by means of establishing multidisciplinary heart-brain clinics that would provide either close observation or a tailored therapeutic intervention. This is an important challenge that needs to be achieved if the AD incidence, societal costs and suffering, is to be significantly reduced.