The causative substance of Alzheimer's disease was discovered for the first time in the young brain, danger to the brain of the twenties

ByEmilio Garcia

The cause of Alzheimer's disease is "AmyloidIt is thought that there is an abnormal accumulation of ', which is considered to progress with age. However, as a result of investigating a certain area of ​​the brain which is not normally studied by Alzheimer's disease, it was found that the existence of a site where amyloid is accumulated also in the brain of a young person in her twenties in the study of the Northwestern University Feinberg Medical College It became clear.

Neuronal amyloid - β accumulation within cholinergic basal forebrain in ageing and Alzheimer 's disease | Brain
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/02/26/brain.awv024


Alzheimer's in Young Brains: Evidence of Disease Begins in Young Brain
http://time.com/3727071/alzheimers-young-brains/

Amyloid, a kind of protein produced in the brain, works to maintain adaptive capacity and strengthen memory ability by forming new neuron connections in the brain. However, when amyloid accumulates abnormally, mucous plaque is formed in the brain, interference with normal brain neurons is destroyed, which is said to cause Alzheimer's disease.

Accumulation of amyloid was thought to occur with age, but at the University of Northwestern University Feinberg Medical CollegeCognitive Neurology · Alzheimer's Disease CenterStudies have revealed that amyloid accumulation occurs in the brains of young people in their twenties. Professors Changiz Geula, who led the research, analyzed the brains of healthy volunteers aged 20 to 66, healthy volunteers aged 70 to 99, and Alzheimer's patients aged 60 to 95, and found that the brain of the forebrain of all brains We have confirmed the accumulation of amyloid from.

The forebrain basal part is a part related to memory and attention, but it is a part that is not normally examined in Alzheimer's disease research. According to the results of this study, it was found that a group of cells susceptible to accumulation of amyloid existed in the basal forebrain. Since it is a necropsy specimen, it can not be confirmed whether these young individuals actually developed Alzheimer's disease, but it shows that the process causing Alzheimer's disease started in 20's, and in future it is said that Alzheimer's disease It is known to promote onset.


Therefore, Professor Geula said, "If we can reduce the accumulation of amyloid in the young brain, it may be possible to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease." We have not found an effective method to remove abnormally accumulated amyloid, but already promising compounds have been discovered and testing is under way in clinical trials. Professor Geula believes that removal of amyloid is effective for treating Alzheimer's disease even for people with genetic factors that form plaques with amyloid.