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Alzheimer's symptoms could be due to decline in brain protein not accumulation of amyloid plaques:
Experts estimate more than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's dementia. But a recent study, led by the University of Cincinnati, sheds new light on the disease and a highly debated new drug therapy.
The UC-led study, conducted in collaboration with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, claims that the treatment of Alzheimer's disease might lie in normalizing the levels of a specific brain protein called amyloid-beta peptide. This protein is needed in its original, soluble form to keep the brain healthy, but sometimes it hardens into "brain stones" or clumps, called amyloid plaques.
[...] "It's not the plaques that are causing impaired cognition,'' says Alberto Espay, the new study's senior author and professor of neurology at UC. "Amyloid plaques are a consequence, not a cause," of Alzheimer's disease, says Espay, who is also a member of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute.
[...] Cognitive impairment could be due to a decline in soluble amyloid-beta peptide instead of the corresponding accumulation of amyloid plaques. To test their hypothesis, they analyzed the brain scans and spinal fluid from 600 individuals enrolled in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative study, who all had amyloid plaques. From there, they compared the amount of plaques and levels of the peptide in the individuals with normal cognition to those with cognitive impairment. They found that, regardless of the amount of plaques in the brain, the individuals with high levels of the peptide were cognitively normal.
They also found that higher levels of soluble amyloid-beta peptide were associated with a larger hippocampus, the area of the brain most important for memory.
According to the authors, as we age most people develop amyloid plagues, but few people develop dementia. In fact, by the age of 85, 60% of people will have these plagues, but only 10% develop dementia, they say.
Journal Reference:
Andrea Sturchio. High cerebrospinal amyloid-β 42 is associated with normal cognition in individuals with brain amyloidosis, EClinicalMedicine (DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100988)
(Score: 4, Funny) by KilroySmith on Wednesday July 14 2021, @08:18PM (4 children)
I love the way the article switches from "plaques" to "plagues".
I noticed "...60% of people will have these plagues" - I think that would qualify as an even more serious problem....
(Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday July 14 2021, @08:36PM (3 children)
I only count two plagues in TFA and in the portion quoted by upstart.
Two isn't so bad. It's not like the article's authors are getting dementia or something.
While Republicans can get over Trump's sexual assaults, affairs, and vulgarity; they cannot get over Obama being black.
(Score: 3, Funny) by sgleysti on Wednesday July 14 2021, @09:34PM (2 children)
Nor is it as though the article is plagued with spelling mistakes.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday July 14 2021, @09:44PM (1 child)
That's not as bad as getting plaqued with spelling mistakes.
While Republicans can get over Trump's sexual assaults, affairs, and vulgarity; they cannot get over Obama being black.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 14 2021, @10:29PM
Could've been infested with phages! You are so lucky! Back in the day, when I was young, we used to, . . . where was I going with this?