Alzheimer's Heart Link Explained

Scientists have discovered how heart disease or a stroke may trigger Alzheimer's disease. Both conditions lead to a reduction of oxygen flow to the brain.

A University of British Columbia team, studying mice, found this stimulates increased development of the protein clumps thought to cause Alzheimer's.

The lack of oxygen increases activity in a gene controlling production of the key protein, found the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study.

This protein, beta amyloid, collects in knots in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, and is thought to cause damage to the brain cells.

The gene identified in the latest study, BACE1, is responsible for regulating the maturation of beta amyloid.

The researchers, who carried out their work on mice, say their findings suggest that boosting oxygen delivery to the brain may be one way to treat Alzheimer's disease.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said the charity was currently funding research to investigate the role of oxygen levels in amyloid plaque build-up.

She said: "Scientists have known for some time that people with certain diseases that restrict their supply of oxygen, such as stroke or lung disorders, are more prone to Alzheimer's and also that people who live at high altitudes are also at greater risk of developing the disease.

"This research provides a molecular explanation for that anecdotal finding and shows that cues from cells, genes and a person's environment all play a role in causing this dreadful disease.

"We hope that research in this area could suggest new methods to prevent and treat dementia in the future - particularly for those individuals who have suffered head trauma or a stroke."

Professor Clive Ballard, director of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said there was growing evidence that a good supply of blood and oxygen to the brain was vital to minimise the risk of developing dementia.

He said: "The Alzheimer's Society strongly believes that what is good for the heart is also good for the brain.

"You can reduce your risk of developing dementia by taking regular exercise, eating healthily and getting your blood pressure checked."

http://science.education.nih.gov/home2.nsf/Educational+Resources/Resource+Formats/Online+Resources/+High+School/D07612181A4E785B85256CCD0064857B

Prions: Puzzling Infectious Proteins

Ruth Levy Guyer, Ph.D.

Sometimes a scientific discovery shakes the confidence of scientists, making them question whether they truly understand nature's "ground rules."

That's exactly what prions have done to scientists' understanding of the ground rules for infectious diseases. Prions cause diseases, but they aren't viruses or bacteria or fungi or parasites. They are simply proteins, and proteins were never thought to be infectious on their own. Organisms are infectious, proteins are not. Or, at least, they never used to be.

Prions entered the public's consciousness during the mad cow epidemic that hit England in 1986. For decades, however, scientists had searched for unusual, atypical infectious agents that they suspected caused some puzzling diseases that could not be linked to any of the "regular" infectious organisms. One possibility was that slow viruses--viruses that spent decades wreaking havoc in their hosts--might be the culprits, and these putative viruses were not only leisurely about multiplying but also hard to isolate. Now researchers are coming around, albeit reluctantly, to accepting the shocking fact that naked proteins can be infectious. "More than one protein chemist has declared this to be insane--and yet this is precisely what is implied by a growing number of studies" was the way one news article put it (1).

Prions (pronounced pree-ahns) enter cells and apparently convert normal proteins found within the cells into prions just like themselves. The normal cell proteins have all the same "parts" as the prions--specifically the same amino acid building blocks--but they fold differently. They are much like the toy "Transformers" that intrigued little kids in the 1980s. A sphynx could become a robot; a bug could become a warrior. Nothing was added; nothing subtracted.

I have my own belief where large quantities of alcohol will continually keep those proteins from forming.

Believe what you want, but my observation, strictly anecdotal I suppose, is that such a "treatment" is more likely encourage the formation of those proteins.

My Dad and Aunt essentially died of the complications of those proteins. Both were more or less functioning alcoholics for most of their adult life. Their brother drank more, and had fewer obligations, since he had no wife or children. He died in his 50s.

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