Politics | 06/23/2008 4:05 pm

Scientists Discover Key Piece to Alzheimer's Puzzle

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

One more segment of the Alzheimer’s puzzle is in place after a team of researchers found that a soluble amyloid-β dimer injected into the brains of rats evoked key characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease. A little rusty on your amyloid-β dimers? Don’t worry, we’re here to help.

Essentially, it’s long been known that Alzheimer’s disease stands apart from other forms of dementia in its abundance of amyloid-β protein plaque building up in the brain. A study published on Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine revealed that it’s a particular form of this protein – a two-molecule dimer – that is a leading culprit in Alzheimer’s, a debilitating and heartbreaking disease.

This finding also explains why "some people free of the disorder did have insoluble amyloid plaques in their brains," according to the National Institutes of Health. Doctors have had their eyes on the plaque-buildup link for quite some time, but couldn’t figure out why only some – and not all – plaque buildup did develop Alzheimer’s. This latest finding better points researchers in the direction of decoding the ongoing, complex mystery, as they now know which plaque to zero in on.

According to the study in Nature Medicine, these "findings fulfill an essential requirement for establishing disease causation in Alzheimer’s disease."

While the puzzle isn’t solved yet, it’s that much closer.

Read more about: Alzheimer's Disease, Health

15 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Well, it’s great that science is a bit closer to finding the cause of this disease…now if we could only find more effective treatment.

By Amber Swaney on 06/23/2008 3:10 pm

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Ms Swaney—it’s coming—there’s a new drug being tested now called Aricept that shows promise in controlled tests—so I’m keeping my fingers crossed—more and better treatments are occurring all the time—there’s more than just hope offered now.

By Frank Peterson on 06/23/2008 3:38 pm

Frank, Aricept was approved in 1996 , however i know quite a few people including my husband who can’t handle it. It seems to be very hard on the stomach. Namenda is better for that reason. My husband has been on medication for 10 years and I know that it did help in slowing down the disease. We need more before the baby boomers start to be affected, This is a costly and devastating disease to deal with both for the afflicted and the care giver.

By Jeannot Kensinger on 06/23/2008 5:18 pm

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JMK agreed but progress is being made and that’s what i place my hope on—so far I’m lucky—but no one in the family ever had it so maybe I’m one of the lucky ones—*knocks wood*.

By Frank Peterson on 06/23/2008 6:07 pm

JMK: I think of you off and on dealing with what you are dealing with and I have such empathy. My husband’s mother had this disease, two of our dearest friends had it and now another old friend has been diagnosed with it. Such a cruel invasion of the brain and I do hope that something is discovered before long to either eradicate this or at least ease the symptoms. Do you have supportive services? Professional and otherwise? I do know you have a sense of humor ––––I recall the story you told us about the bedtime dilemma which was so funny–––which probably keeps you sane. My very best to you.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 06/24/2008 9:36 am

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Thank you Phyllis for your nice words. Humor is the only thing that keeps me going. Also faith but there are days that my anger overtakes the faith. My big support came with tragedy. My daughter in law passed away at 32 last month so my son has moved back home. Very mixed emotions with that change. Her loss is heavy on all of us yet the gain of having son in the house is enormous. The Universe does play mean tricks these days . Time to heal is now at hand.

By Jeannot Kensinger on 06/25/2008 7:54 am

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Any new science is good, but I belive that until more people start doing autopsies on their loved ones diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, we won’t know the true extent of its cause. See this link: http://www.mad-cow.org/Alzheimer_cjd.html An estimated two to three million Americans are afflicted by Alzheimer’s (Scully, 1993); it is the fourth leading cause of death among the elderly in the U.S (Perry, 1995). Twenty percent or more of people clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease are found at autopsy to not have had Alzheimer’s at all (McKhann, 1984). At Yale, out of 46 patients clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, 6 were proven to be CJD at autopsy (Manuelidis, 1989). In another post-mortem study 3 out of 12 “Alzheimer” patients actually died from a spongiform encephalopathy (Teixeira, 1995). Carleton Gajdusek, who was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work with prion diseases (Manuelidis, 1985), estimates that 1% of people showing up in Alzheimer clinics actually have CJD (Folstein, 1983). That means that hundreds of people (Hoyert, 1996; United, 1995) may already be dying from mad cow disease each year in the United States.

By Slim Pickins on 06/23/2008 4:47 pm

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Re: Aricept……my younger sister is on Aricept. Her Alzheimers is pretty advanced. At first we went through the excitement phase of thinking the miracle drug Aricept would help. It didn’t prevent her from getting worse. In fact her progression through the disease has been rapid. The last two months have been absolutely horrible. The seizures and lack of recognition time is hard on the siblings. I don’t think she is in pain though. :::::::::: hangs head and cries for my little sis’s soul ::::::::: and prays for God’s hand to guide us ::::::::

By doll lady on 06/23/2008 5:23 pm

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We all fear it because more and more of the baby boomer generation are fighting along side their parents and sometimes their spouse to maintain a quality of life that is ebbing away. Any progress towards finding a cure is progress well made.

By Bonnie Oliver on 06/23/2008 5:37 pm

I don’t think too many people know that the risk of Alzheimer’s can be substantially reduced with daily exercise, half an hour brisk walk will do. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4616502.stm Also there is some idea —based on a finding that Alzheimer’s is rare in India—that there may be something in Indian food that decreases Alzheimer’s. So I try to have a dish with turmeric a couple times a week. A large waist is also an Alzheimer’s risk, so anyone carrying weight around their waist is at greater risk too, from Alzheimer’s and heart disease. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7314458.stm So those of us who like to think, like to remember, and who are chubbier than we ought to be, time to diet, time to walk. I don’t think we should leave it all to science. We need to help. The reason Alzheimer’s has gone up in incidence in the last fifty years I would have to blame on the car and boob tube. People used to walk a lot more, and live in and design communities for feet and not cars.

By Elizabeth Bennett on 06/23/2008 6:01 pm

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elizabeth, you are so right about community design. i don’t have alzheimer’s in my life for any more response. my 89 year old mother is telling people she is too old to do this or that for them, leaving a substantial number she helps every day. i am forgetful in this, the week i turn 60. imagine when i turn 90. my waist is too large, and, elizabeth, i don’t exercise enough.

By mary lou s on 06/23/2008 7:41 pm

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Elizabeth, I wish it was that simple. my husband never had an ounce of fat on him. Was always walking. In fact he got lost recently and had walked 6 miles out of town , at 82 and frail as he is. We need to get to the bottom of this illness. I just do not want people to start thinking that it always had to do with how fit we are. I recently read if you do cross word puzzles every day, if you eat this and that. Husband was very busy all the time with the head and the body. No one in his family had Alzheimer before. I wish I could see something that may have triggered it so that I could tell my children.

By Jeannot Kensinger on 06/24/2008 6:57 am

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From what I know about this disease is that nobody really knows about this disease. There doesn’t seem to be any definitive pattern as to why some people have it and some people don’t. Maybe the neuroscientists will discover a genetic component.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 06/24/2008 9:45 am

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You are right, it is not that simple. Those are just things they have found that reduce risk, I don’t think they are sure why these things reduce risk. But they do not eliminate risk. Dementia can have many different causes too, some are not Alzheimer’s, some are B-12 deficiency, some are thyroid trouble, some are artery problems. I remember when it was just called senility and thought inevitable. I am glad someone is trying to get to the bottom of it. I just think we need to stay as healthy as possible to minimize risks. I am sorry about your husband.

By Elizabeth Bennett on 06/24/2008 11:09 am