Scientists working at UCL in London and KU Leuven in Belgium believe they have made a major step forward in the fight to slow down – or stop – the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain
A major breakthrough in how scientists understand Alzheimer’s has been made – leading to hope for a future “new line of drugs” which could slow the disease.
Scientists have found a way to prevent brain cells from dying and believe it could be the next step in finding a remedy for Alzheimer’s. The research, conducted by scientists at UCL in London and KU Leuven in Belgium has been hailed “important” by Dr Susan Kohlhaas from Alzheimer’s Research UK – who said it could “pave the way for new treatments to slow, or even stop disease progression in the future”.
Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia in the UK – the decline of brain function, memory and thinking skills. It has a variety of complex causes, including the build-up of proteins called amyloid and tau in the brain – substances which create small structures called plaques and tangles, hindering brain function. There is also a loss of neurons – or brain cells – resulting in a breakdown of neural networks resulting in memory loss.
But scientists have never understood how those two processes are connected and therefore how to prevent neuron loss – until now. The UK’s Dementia Research Institute at UCL believe the buildup of abnormal protein is connected to ânecroptosis’, a similar type of cellular suicide usually used by our body to get rid of unwanted cells.