Editorial: Alzheimer’s disease: original mechanisms and translational impact

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive andirreversible worsening of cognitive functions, inability to perform everyday activities, and mooddisorders. Currently, AD is considered the leading cause of dementia and hospitalization of olderadults in nursing homes. In the United States, 5.8 million people has been calculated to suffer fromAD in 2019, 81% being 75 years or older; the percentage of individuals with AD increases with age,from 3% of people aged 65–74 to 32% of people aged 85 and older. Women are more affected by ADthan men (M/F 2/1) probably because of their longer lifespan. Finally, African Americans andHispanics are about twice likely to develop AD as older Whites (Alzheimer’s Association, 2019). Thelack of any updated epidemiologic survey about AD in Europe is quite disappointing; the mostaccurate analysis dates back 2017 and reveals an estimated prevalence at 5.05% (men 3.31% andwomen 7.13%) increasing with age (Niu et al., 2017). In Europe, about 3 million people wasestimated to suffer from AD (Mayer et al., 2018)