healthcare

Editorial
Prevention, Intervention and Care of
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Christos Bakirtzis * , Marina-Kleopatra Boziki and Nikolaos Grigoriadis

Second Department of Neurology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece;

bozikim@auth.gr (M.-K.B.); ngrigoriadis@auth.gr (N.G.)
* Correspondence: cbakirtzis@auth.gr; Tel.: +30-2310-994-665

Chronic neurodegenerative diseases encompass a wide spectrum of disorders and

affect millions of people worldwide. These diseases are characterized by progressive axonal
loss that ultimately leads to apoptosis and consequently to neuronal death [1]. In the past
years, neurodegenerative diseases have been extensively studied. We now understand
that they may share common pathophysiological mechanisms, such as malfunctions in
intracellular proteins [2,3], while the insidious underlying processes seen in these diseases
often resemble those observed in the ageing brain [4]. Regardless of the progress which
has been made until now, the feasibility of early detection and timely treatment of these
diseases remains limited. This Special Issue gives voice to researchers who focus their
attention on the efficient monitoring and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
Recent advances in the field of motor neuron diseases shed light to various underlying
mechanisms implicated in their pathophysiology and revealed several useful biomarkers;
nevertheless, no radical change has been observed in the clinical course of these diseases [5].
Although nowadays novel therapeutic approaches have been introduced in clinical practice,
the need for non-pharmacological interventions remains unchanged. In this Special Issue,
Paynter C. and colleagues investigated the impact of improving health literacy in people
with motor neuron diseases [6]. For this study, 19 individuals with motor neuron diseases
and 15 caregivers were recruited. According to the results, both patients and caregivers
may benefit from personalized, individually adapted consultations and from the provision
of information about ways to improve their daily living.
Similarly, non-pharmacological approaches may also ameliorate the quality of life of
Citation: Bakirtzis, C.; Boziki, M.-K.;
people living with other neurodegenerative conditions. One such approach is neurorehabil-
Grigoriadis, N. Prevention,
itation, which has proven to be a significant tool in the treatment of brain damage [7]. In
Intervention and Care of
this context, Hyun-Se Choi and Seung-Hyun Cho performed a randomized, multicenter
Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Healthcare 2023, 11, 2349. https://
study which included 60 patients with Parkinson’s disease [8]. They investigated whether a
doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11162349
multimodal, patient-tailored approach in rehabilitation, combined with home modifications
and caregiver education is superior to traditional rehabilitation techniques with regard
Received: 27 July 2023 to patients’ everyday living. They concluded that the proposed multimodal approach is
Accepted: 8 August 2023
more effective in improving the quality of life of both the patients and the family caregivers.
Published: 21 August 2023
Regarding the various approaches of neurorehabilitation, Garcia-Perez and colleagues ex-
plored the effectiveness of occupational therapies used in the rehabilitation of individuals
with stroke [9]. They performed a systematic review including 13 relevant randomized
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
controlled trials. According to the results, occupational therapy performed soon after
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
hospital discharge combined with caregiver training is effective for neurological recovery.
This article is an open access article
Furthermore, early intervention may reduce the cost of treatment and rehabilitation by
distributed under the terms and improving patient adherence to the occupational therapeutic plan.
conditions of the Creative Commons Dementia is one of the most common and detrimental manifestations of neurodegener-
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// ation. Extensive research focusing on the detection of biomarkers and potential risk factors
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ for the development of dementia is being conducted [10]. Artificial intelligence and novel
4.0/). assessment tools may be valuable for the early detection and prognosis of dementia [11].

Healthcare 2023, 11, 2349. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11162349 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcare

Healthcare 2023, 11, 2349 2 of 3

In this Special Issue, Aditya Shastry K. and colleagues examine the various deep learning
approaches and techniques that have been developed for the detection of Alzheimer’s
disease [12]. In their review, they focus on deep learning techniques of neuroimaging
analyses and provide their strengths and limitations. Additionally, they address the various
challenges that need to be overcome in order to use such technologies in everyday clinical
practice. On the other hand, since people with cardiovascular diseases may be more prone
to develop dementia, Buawangpong N and colleagues examined whether a cardiovascular
risk score, widely used in Thailand, may help detect individuals at risk of developing
mild cognitive impairment [13]. By reviewing the data of 421 participants, the authors
concluded that the use of such scales for the quantification of cardiovascular risk factors
may provide additional information about the risk of developing cognitive impairment,
although further refinement of the tools used towards this direction is still needed.
Neurodegeneration is now at the center of focus of current research in multiple
sclerosis and it is considered to be a major contributor in the accumulation of disability
in these patients [14]. Therefore, disease monitoring may require the use of tools that
potentially detect neurodegenerative processes early. Based on this, our study group
discussed the use of optical coherence tomography and optical coherence tomography with
angiography in multiple sclerosis [15]. In this review, we came up to the conclusion that the
aforementioned studies of the retina may be useful in the early detection and monitoring
of disease progression. The use of novel therapeutic agents that target cells involved in
neurodegenerative processes, such as astrocytes and microglia, is under investigation [16,
17]. However, until now, disease modifying treatments are mainly targeting lymphocytes.
Ofatumumab, an anti-CD 20 monoclonal antibody, has been recently introduced in the
therapeutic armamentarium of multiple sclerosis. In a brief report, Hafiza Munazza Taj and
colleagues provide a critical appraisal of the four currently available randomized controlled
studies that examine the efficacy of ofatumumab in relapsing multiple sclerosis, concluding
that ofatumumab is an effective treatment for this type of the disease [18].
This Special Issue provides an interesting collection of articles focusing on early
detection and management of various neurodegenerative diseases. We anticipate and we
hope that in the near future, neurodegenerative diseases will be better understood and
more efficiently treated. Nevertheless, further research is needed in order to achieve our
goal which is to provide better care for our patients.

Author Contributions: Writing—original draft preparation, C.B. and M.-K.B.; writing—review and
editing, N.G.; project administration, C.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version
of the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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