Alzheimer's Is prevention possible?

Alzheimer's: prevention possible?

American researchers have discovered that Alzheimer's disease may be due to a very strong immune response in our brain. They examined plaque deposits in brains of Alzheimer's patients.

The plaques are protein deposits in the brain and are one of the early warning signs in Alzheimer's disease. Recently, eye tests could help diagnose Alzheimer's. The plaques are mainly composed of the amyloid beta protein. This is nothing new, but now the professor of neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital-East, Rudolph Tanzi and colleagues examined these proteins and discovered astonishing things: synthetically produced amyloid-beta proteins and tissue samples from Alzheimer's patients inhibited the growth of pathogens and Microbes such as the fungus Candida albicans, Listeria, the bacterial strains streptococci and staphylococci, and others.

This requires a rethinking, because hitherto the amyloid-beta proteins had always been dismissed only as a waste product and virtually a deposit in the brain. But it could play in the run-up strong inflammatory or immune reactions in the brain of Alzheimer's sufferers, which later lead to the appearance of the proteins. In natural medicine, it has long been argued that aluminum and mercury deposits have an impact on the development of Alzheimer's disease. So far, however, this thesis could not be sufficiently substantiated.

Tanzi and colleagues, who published their findings in the online journal "PLoS One", now want to investigate the processes behind the deposits and thus pave the way for future treatment options for Alzheimer's disease being preventively applicable.

In Germany, about 700,000 people are currently affected by the Alzheimer's disease. Every year, about 120 000 new cases are expected and by 2030 experts estimate that there could be almost 2 million patients in Germany. (Thorsten Fischer, Naturopath Osteopathy, 04.03.2010)

To read more:
Eye test helps diagnose Alzheimer's