Scientists thought that they know pretty well how Alzheimer’s disease, meaning the most common form of dementia, evolves in the human brain. But according to new research, pretty different results were obtained.
SciTechDaily.com speaks about the new study, and the conclusion is that the disease develops in a more different way than it was thought previously.
Alzheimer’s reaches various regions of the human brain early
Previously, the accepted scenario was that the most common form of dementia starts from a single point in the human brain and continues through a chain reaction that will kill brain cells.
For the new research that shows Alzheimeer’s as reaching various regions of the brain pretty early, scientists used brain samples from Alzheimer’s patients who passed away and also PET scans from living individuals. The purpose was to observe the amount of tau, meaning one of the two key proteins associated with Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Georg Meisl from Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry of Cambridge, and also the first author of the paper, declared as quoted by SciTechDaily.com:
The thinking had been that Alzheimer’s develops in a way that’s similar to many cancers: the aggregates form in one region and then spread through the brain,
But instead, we found that when Alzheimer’s starts there are already aggregates in multiple regions of the brain, and so trying to stop the spread between regions will do little to slow the disease.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, over 6 million Americans at least the age of 65 years old will be dealing with the most common form of dementia in 2021.
Apart from the new study, one huge problem, regardless if the authorities are willing to admit it or not, is represented by the fact that many people experiencing Alzheimer’s symptoms won’t seek any medical attendance. It’s hard to admit even for yourself that you are dealing with such an awful condition. This leads to many people not getting diagnosed with the most common form of dementia.
The new study was published in ScienceAdvances.