two examples of CNS diseases, namely stroke and schizophrenia, for which enor-
mous effort is made in recent years to reveal their genetic base and molecular
pathways involved in their pathology so as to develop the premises for personalized
approaches in the diagnosis and treatment. Those examples will illustrate efforts,
achievements, and obstacles in the field. Stroke and schizophrenia are among the
most debilitating disorders of the nervous system, even though it is very difficult, if
not impossible, to define the severity of the CNS illness since each disease has the
intimate and personalized consequences for the patients, which cannot be measured
in any way and should be considered, particularly in personalized approaches.
2 Stroke
2.1 The Scale of the Problem
Among the most debilitating disorders of the nervous system is stroke, which
represents a major health problem, since it is the second leading cause of death
worldwide and the leading cause of long-term disability in the world, for which
there is no effective therapy.^9 Moreover, it has been estimated that stroke mortality
will double by 2020 worldwide, owing to an aging population and an increasing
incidence in developing countries.^10
The basic problem in stroke is a death of brain neuronal cells due to ischemic
conditions. The neurons are postmitotic cells that cannot divide, so their loss is
permanent. Another problem is that neurons that survive injury but lose contact
with their target cells cannot regenerate and regrow their axons to reestablish
connections. The impossibility of the human CNS to replace dead neurons and to
regenerate axons after injury is the major problem in pathology not only of stroke
but also of all neurodegenerative diseases and brain and spinal cord injuries.
Modern neuroscience, unfortunately, still does not know how to resolve those
fundamental problems. Many neuroprotective and regenerative approaches, show-
ing positive results in preclinical studies on animals, failed, up to now, to show the
benefits for human patients.^11 The current treatment for ischemic stroke is throm-
bolysis within 3 h of development of symptoms, while some hemorrhagic strokes
can benefit from neurosurgery.^12 Thus, the consequences of the neuronal damage
caused by the ischemic stroke cannot be actually treated and the focus is on the
prevention, which currently involves the antiplatelet drugs, cholesterol-lowering
drugs, and control of high blood pressure. Understanding genetics of the stroke
should improve the preventive strategies, while development of personalized,
(^9) Feigin et al. ( 2010 ).
(^10) Markus ( 2012 ).
(^11) Faden and Stoica ( 2007 ) and Muramatsu et al. ( 2009 ).
(^12) Hill and Hachinski ( 1998 ).
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