Posted by: Maria/MDHealthForum.com Team

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder characterized by impairment of cognitive function. This form of dementia initially affects the parts of the brain responsible for memory, thought and language. Symptoms are expected to get worse over time. People afflicted with this disease may not recognize family members and forget how to carry out simple activities of daily living. Additionally, they may also become anxious and could even wander away from home. In the late stage of the disease, the patient would require total care. Because of this, Alzheimer’s disease is known to cause a great deal of stress for other family members especially those assume responsibility as the main caregiver.

The single cause of Alzheimer’s disease is yet to be identified. Studies geared toward understanding this disease started more than a hundred years ago. In early 1900’s, Aloiz Alzheimer, a German Psychiatrist & neuropathologist observed a female patient who manifested bizarre behavioral symptoms and loss of short-term memory. After the patient’s death in 1906, the doctor noted the presence of abnormal clumps and neurofibrillary tangles in the woman’s brain. The clumps are made of protein fragments called amyloid. In a normal brain, these protein fragments are broken down and eliminated, but in the subject’s brain, they form plaques. The presence of amyloid plaques is now considered one of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s. Decades later, the neurofibrillary tangles were further studied and found to be mainly made up of tau protein, but what triggers their formation into insoluble aggregates is still unknown.

There is still no treatment available to cure Alzheimer’s Disease. Patients only benefit from medicines that will help in managing symptoms related to memory, language, other thought processes and improve their ability to perform tasks. Last month, the results of at least 4 different clinical trials were published. Among them was the findings of scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological disease. This group of researchers wanted to find out more about the possible connection of lipids and fatty acids in Alzheimer’s disease. They identified high levels of a fatty acid called arachidonic acid in the the hippocampus of the Alzheimer’s mice. Hippocampus is the part of the brain responsible for short-term memory. The release of arachidonic acid is controlled by the PLA2 enzyme or IVA phospholipase. By making use of genetic engineering the scientists decreased these enzymes, this action caused the prevention of memory deficits and behavioral abnormalities in the Alzheimer mice. They concluded that lowering arachidonic acid levels will enable the brain cells to function normally. They believe that the result of their study have significant therapeutic implications but would still require more research prior to applying such strategy on any human subject.

A few days ago, researchers from Universite Laval, led by Dr Frederic Calon, announced the result of their study about the effects of a high fat and low Omega 3 diets in transgenic mice. They have proven that the neurological signs of Alzheimer’s disease are aggravated in the brains of mice that were fed a diet high in animal fat and low in omega-3’s. The team made use of transgenic mice that has tau proteins and amyloid-beta proteins- the types of proteins found in Alzheimer’s. Regular mice and transgenic mice were fed different diets for several months. The mice that were given a high-fat & poor Omega 3 foods produced high concentrations of both amyloid and tau protein than the control group mice. The researchers believe that a diet rich in Omega 3 and low in saturated fat could prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Although they can not guarantee that what they have observed in mice would also yield the same result in humans, Dr Frederic Calon concluded that consumption of less fat and more Omega 3-containing foods will not cause harm.

As of the year 2006 over 26 million people in the world already have Alzheimer’s disease. If no medicine can prevent or cure Alzheimer’s, it is estimated that by 2050, the prevalence will increase fourfold. To date, there are more than 500 clinical trials for the possible treatments of Alzheimer’s disease, it is still unknown whether any of those will come out as the solution to treat the people diagnosed with the disease. In the past, the human race suffered from illnesses that were deemed incurable, but at present we already benefit from medicines for those illnesses. For now we can only await and hope that scientists will come up with effective treatments to save us from Alzheimer’s disease as they saved our forefathers from formerly incurable diseases like polio, typhoid, smallpox and many others.

Sources:

Maurer K., Maurer U. (2003). Alzheimer: The Life of a Physician and Career of a Disease. New York: Columbia University Press

Université Laval (2008, October 31). High-fat Diet Could Promote Development Of Alzheimer’s Disease. ScienceDaily. Retrieved Tiraboschi P, Hansen LA, Thal LJ, Corey-Bloom J (June 2004).

“The importance of neuritic plaques and tangles to the development and evolution of AD”. Neurology 62 (11): 1984–9. PMID 15184601.

Gladstone Institutes. “Role Of Fatty Acids In Alzheimer’s Disease Identified.” ScienceDaily 21 October 2008.