Finally ... the discovery of the cause of Alzheimer's disease

Finally ... the discovery of the cause of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers from the University of California revealed in a study that Alzheimer’s disease may be caused by a slowing of the ability of cells to clean themselves, according to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”.

The study added that the slowdown was observed in people over the age of 65, which is a possible cause of the unhealthy accumulation in the brain.

autophagy

The slowdown, known as autophagy, can be caused by fasting, in which cells do not get enough protein from an individual's diet, and they fill in the void by recycling proteins already in the cells.

In turn, Ryan Julian, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, who led the study, said drugs are already being tested to improve autophagy, and if this is the cause of Alzheimer's disease, we could see a potential preventative drug in the near future.

"If slowing down in autophagy is the root cause, then things that increase it should have a beneficial and opposite effect," he added.

However, he explained in a statement, "About 20% of people have plaques, but there are no signs of dementia. This makes it seem as if the paintings themselves are not the cause.”

Decode

And he and his colleagues may have been able to decipher the disease by looking at proteins inside the brain.

Meanwhile, the team began the study by focusing on tau proteins, which have been found to be abnormally distorted in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

Tau proteins help stabilize the internal skeleton of nerve cells, also known as neurons, in the brain.

But although it was difficult to detect, the different form of the tau allowed scientists to distinguish people who did not express any outward signs of dementia from those who did.

Isomers

Julian's lab at the university is focusing on the different forms a single molecule can take, called isomers, which also helped point them to the culprit.

"The isomer is the same molecule with a different three-dimensional orientation from the original," Julian said.

In addition, the team examined all the proteins in the donated brain samples.

It revealed that those with brain buildup but not dementia had normal tau, while a different form of tau was found in those who developed plaques or tangles as well as dementia.

Also, most proteins in the body have a half-life of less than 48 hours, but if they are found to remain, some amino acids can be converted to another isomer.

It is reported that Alzheimer's was discovered by Dr. Alius Alzheimer in 1906, who observed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness.

Doctors usually diagnose Alzheimer's disease when they find a mixture of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, along with the dimensions.

The abnormal buildup is known to cause Alzheimer's disease, which includes two types of proteins: one called amyloid, whose deposits form plaques around brain cells, and another called tau, which forms tangles inside brain cells.

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