Announcing Two New Medical Textbooks Co-Edited by Dr. Dharma S. Khalsa, ARPF President

It was my honor to contribute to this important book series “Advances in Alzheimer’s Disease” for the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. The emphasis is on the development of novel approaches to understanding and treating Alzheimer’s and related diseases. The two volumes provide a comprehensive overview of strategies for tackling Alzheimer’s disease, and will be of interest to all those working in the field.  – Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD

Handbook of Prevention and Alzheimer’s Disease

It is almost 120 years since Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was first reported, and the concept of modifiable risk factors associated with the disease has been present from the outset. Thus, the idea of preventing AD is not new, with reference to strategies noted as early as the 1990s. This subfield of AD research has matured in recent years, with the number of modifiable risk factors – the AD preventome – rising from the 7 initially identified to the current 14, with an estimated contribution to dementia cases worldwide of about 40%.

This book, the Handbook of Prevention and Alzheimer’s Disease, introduces physicians, scientists, and other stakeholders to this subfield of AD research. It investigates the AD preventome, which will continue to expand as the understanding of new factors and related biomarkers is refined. Optimizing this preventome leads to an improvement in overall brain health, an outcome which reduces the risk of developing AD and improves quality of life. The book goes on to examine other domains of prevention, from vascular risk factors to social engagement and from sleep health to spirituality. If the journey to end AD can be likened to a long and arduous challenge, understanding every possible part of the overall toolkit of approaches for disease prevention and intervention is essential.

Handbook of Intervention and Alzheimer’s Disease

Intervening to manage risk factors as a way of tackling AD is not new, but optimizing brain health as a way of minimizing risk and maximizing the potential benefits of revolutionary new treatments for AD is becoming increasingly important.

This book, the Handbook of Intervention and Alzheimer’s Disease, presents 47 papers exploring factors which may either inspire or inform future treatment and clinical trials. While novel interventions such as anti-amyloid immunotherapy present great opportunities, they may also increase the risk of brain bleeds and edema, which in turn may lead to adverse clinical outcomes. Such adverse outcomes are demonstrably more likely to occur in persons with poor brain health, so improved management of the risk factors which make up the AD preventome will also minimize the risks associated with such novel therapies. The papers in this volume can therefore be thought of as offering insight into those factors that can optimize brain health or providing key insights into interventions which may achieve such outcomes.