White matter degeneration – a treatable target?

The World Health Organization predicts that by 2050, one-fifth of the world’s population will be older than 60 years, with roughly 115 million individuals affected by dementia. These numbers do not account for the additional 16% to 20% of elderly individuals who are estimated to experience mild cognitive impairment, which can begin years before clinical presentation. Despite this large public health concern, interventional strategies are limited, and timely identification of prodromal disease states requires improvement. To date, most therapies aim to protect or preserve at-risk neurons, and there are very few therapies that target the brain’s white matter, which makes up half of the brain and may be a critical site of prodromal disease.