Potential Interventions on Formaldehyde-Induced Neuronal Toxicity

For over 100 years, a great deal of research has been focused on the dementia of clinical phase and on single-target drugs to intervene the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, a real breakthrough in the treatment still needs to be made to stave off AD. So far, many drugs and methods have been tried to treat and intervene AD in basic research and clinical trials. However, the long-term and effective drugs with low side effects on the age-related cognitive impairment have been still investigated. In order to stave off the onset and progression of age-related cognitive impairment, different interventions have been emphasized and applied in Alzheimer’s disease treatments, such as developing multi-target drugs, ameliorating lifestyle, regulating diet, providing music care, attending physical exercises, and participating in social activities. The multidomain intervention will be one of the comprehensive therapies for Alzheimer’s disease patients, especially for those in preclinical phases. Therefore, we would like to emphasize that intervention of Alzheimer’s disease needs personalized intervention and medicine, including individualized diagnosis and treatment. Currently, clarifying early pathological changes of preclinical stage is imperative to understand AD. Early diagnosis and intervention could have better effective treatment results. We can identify the dementia patients with high levels of endogenous formaldehyde and treat them with some Chinese herbs as suggested in this chapter. We would like to recommend the integration of Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), for instance, performing the Western diagnosis coupled with the TCM treatment to make the personalized treatment plan for individuals although the direct relation between the so-called etiological factors and age-related cognitive impairment is still waiting to be clarified.