Alzheimers Articles

[Nert]

Here are two articles about alzheimers that I came across.

The first describes research that "...provides novel insight into the shape-shifting nature of a tau molecule just before it begins sticking to itself to form larger aggregates." A so-called "Big Bang" of the disease.

https://www.blogitbd.info/the-big-bang- ... f-disease/

The second describes Bill Gates investing $30 million to fund alzheimers research with the main goal of creating a mechanism for diagnosing the disease.

https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-ga ... ors-2018-7

I doubt that any of this impacts FAH directly, but I thought I'd share it.

[bruce]

Thanks.

I doubt that any of this impacts FAH directly, but I thought I'd share it.

Actually, it would be the other way around. FAH may have already discovered things that would assist in their research ... or they may make some progress which suggests new details that can be studied by future FAH projects.

[Nert]

Here's another Alzheimers article. One line from it fits in with the Gates article previously linked:

"The best hope for conquering this disease is to first recognize patients who are at risk, and begin treating them prophylactically with new drugs and perhaps lifestyle adjustments that would reduce the rate at which the silent phase of the disease progresses."

https://news.virginia.edu/content/study ... ms-develop

[Nert]

Here's a third.

Key takeaway is that not all patients with amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles develop dementia and cognitive problems. "The results showed that resilient individuals had a unique synaptic protein signature that set them apart from both demented AD patients and normal subjects with no AD pathology." They "...don’t yet fully understand the exact mechanism(s) responsible for this protection."

https://www.utmb.edu/newsroom/article11851.aspx

[Nert]

Here's another one. It's written by Ruth Itzhaki, Professor Emeritus of Molecular Neurobiology, University of Manchester. In the article she summarizes findings supporting the view that Alzheimers might result from a viral infection (HSV1). The last paragraph of the article cites evidence for this:

"Excitingly, successful prevention of Alzheimer’s disease by use of specific anti-herpes agents has now been demonstrated in a large-scale population study in Taiwan."

http://theconversation.com/alzheimers-d ... use-104943

[Nert]

The following two articles describing DNA related research about Alzheimer's disease.

The first discusses a discovery that "Unlike most cells in our bodies, the neurons in our brain can scramble their genes ..." The article describes how this mechanism might be a factor in Alzheimer's disease. The "... amyloid precursor protein (APP), the source of the plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease" contains thousands of variants. "... neurons from the patients with Alzheimer’s disease contained about six times as many varieties of the APP gene as did the cells from the healthy people."

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11 ... ntent=AAAS

The second article provides more information about this this mechanism:

"Scientists from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have identified gene recombination in neurons that produces thousands of new gene variants within Alzheimer’s disease brains. The study, published today in Nature, reveals for the first time how the Alzheimer’s-linked gene, APP, is recombined by using the same type of enzyme found in HIV."

They propose further research using existing FDA approved antiretroviral therapies to block the enzyme associated with creating these variants.

https://www.sbpdiscovery.org/press/neve ... rs-disease

[Nert]

This article discusses possible linkages beween cardiovascular disease and Alzheimers:

"Studying DNA from more than 1.5 million people, an international team of researchers — led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California, San Francisco — has identified points of DNA that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and also heighten the risk for Alzheimer’s disease."

https://source.wustl.edu/2018/11/cardio ... ly-linked/

[Nert]

Here are two more Alzeheimer's articles.

The first discuses a new human trial based on successful reversal of dementia symptoms in mice. "Researchers have found they can blast away the "toxic plaque" from the brain using non-invasive, non-toxic treatments and an ultrasound."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-18/ ... y/10629688

The second describes a potential treatment "... to potentially prevent the disease in 50 to 80 percent of at-risk adults." The treatment affects the actions of a protein (ApoE4) that is related to accumulation of b-amyloid in the brain.

https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom ... imers.html

[Ricorocks]

Hi Nert,

Can't find it now, but I did see on 'Ted Talk' & can be found elsewhere. A relationship exists btwn. the number of "Chaperone Cells" & the likelihood of getting one or the other diseases Cancer or Alzheimer. While you can get both diseases, if you get one your less likely, to get the other, determined by Chaperones.

How & why do fewer or more, influence which?

[Nert]

Hi Ricorocks,

Very interesting talk. Thanks.

Following is a link to the TED(x) talk. (I have lots of free time). It also has a nice intro to protein folding, and some discussion about similarities between Alzheimers, Parkensons, ALS and Huntington's disease.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRcvxDVDLCw

[Ricorocks]

Hi Nert, Cool you found it, I looked on Ted sight nada!

Does FAH play with Chaperones?

[bruce]

Does FAH play with Chaperones?

Del Lucent did some work with Chaperones several years ago. I'm not aware of anything else.
https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/104/25/10430.full.pdf

[Nert]

The following link describes "A simple blood test [that] could predict if a patient will develop Alzheimer's disease up to 16 years before symptoms begin..." Unfortunately, the "...test is not specific to Alzheimer's disease ..."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/22/health/a ... index.html