Alzheimer’s clues before symptoms appear
SCIENTISTS yesterday hailed a major breakthrough in combating Alzheimer’s disease after reportedly finding the key to diagnosis before symptoms strike.
The US team found by injecting fluorescent dyes into patients they were able to spot toxic proteins that clump together in the brain to cause the deadly condition.
The dyes, injected into mice during initial experiments, successfully helped identify rogue proteins even before the disease took hold.
Similar tests on human brain tissue donated by patients who had died of the disease were also successful.
Once the dyes have been inserted into the brain, researchers use an imaging and scanning technique called Positron Emission Tomography to identify the mutant cells, known as amyloid beta. Professor William DeGrado, of California University in San Francisco, where the study was carried out, said: “Our studies show the immediate need for clinical PET probes that can detect a broader spectrum of pathological amyloid beta strains.
“Probes that are more sensitive will result in earlier Alzheimer’s disease detection, providing a longer time frame for therapeutic interventions in mild, or even subclinical, patients.”
Earlier detection Dr Carol Routledge ...proteins hold key of Alzheimer’s would mean more effective therapies for preventing its onset and development. Last night, UK research bodies welcomed the findings, which were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr Carol Routledge, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Stopping or slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease is critical and key to doing this is understanding how different forms of toxic proteins spread through the brain. “The build-up of amyloid is one of the first changes in Alzheimer’s, but why it happens and how it spreads is still not fully understood. “The important tools developed in this study provide insight into different forms of amyloid in the brain. Although initial results in mice provide useful insights into the mechanisms of the disease, they must be followed up with studies in people.
“Improving our ability to track different forms of amyloid will provide a greater understanding of Alzheimer’s and, with more development, could help to predict how a person’s Alzheimer’s may progress in future.”
There is no known cure for Alzheimer’s, which causes nerve cell death and tissue loss throughout the brain.
During the course of the disease, the brain shrinks dramatically, affecting nearly all its functions.
In the UK, about 850,000 people suffer from dementia, costing the NHS £26billion a year.
In most cases, by the time patients are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s the disease has already progressed to a severe stage.
In a separate study, researchers found that a hormone produced while we sleep could hold the key to healthy ageing and staving off Alzheimer’s completely.
Melatonin, known as the sleep hormone, regulates the body’s biological clock.
A review of previous studies found taking melatonin supplements may boost the body both physically and mentally, helping to fight off illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and dementia.
Dr Nava Zisapel, of Tel Aviv University, Israel, where the review was conducted, said: “Poor sleep quality is associated with increased risks of cardiovascular, metabolic and cognitive diseases as well as poor quality of life and increased risks of death.”