ALZHEIMER'S-A GENETIC APPROACH
A newer treatment method to cure Alzheimer's is tested successfully. The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research involves a treatment that delivers a virus to a gene in the brain that could be used to resolve early symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common and devastating form of dementia affecting 40 million people worldwide. It involves memory loss, mood changes, confusion, and personality changes. Currently there are no cures for this.
The Centers for Disease Control(CDC) has estimated that nearly 5 million people are suffering from Alzheimer's disease in the United States itself and in 2014 at about 93541 deaths were attributed to this disease. Alzheimer's disease becomes the sixth main cause of death in the U.S.alone.
The research conducted by scientists from the Imperial College of London. They used a modified virus that delivers a gene known as PGC1-alpha to the brain cells of the mice. They found that it cures the development of Alzheimer's Disease.
The virus is called a lentivirus vector and is commonly used in gene therapy.
On the basis of the research they found that the gene stop a protein called amyloid beta-peptide from forming cells.
Amyloid plaques are sticky clumps of protein formed mainly at the cortex and the front lobe, the hippocampus of the brain during the development of Alzheimer's Disease (Ref.Alzheimer's Disease) in this blog. These amyloid plaques are causing the death of the brain cells which leads to Alzheimer's Disease.
Prof.Nicholas Mazarakis co-author of the research study explains how they can modify the way of infection by the lentivirus on the brain cells affected by the amyloid plaques for their own advantage and yield beneficiary effects. They use a modified harmless version of the virus.
The research was already used successfully in Parkinson's Disease.
Alzheimer's is developed by starting from the cortex and slowly spread to the hippocampus. The first damage may occur in 10 to 20 years before the disease becomes outwardly visible.
The cortex of the brain is associated with long term memory, reasoning, thinking, and mood. Damage may result in depression and difficulty figuring out to do familiar tasks.
The hippocampus is associated with learning and conversion of short term memories to long term memories. Hippocampus is instrumental in mental orientation.
Damage in the hippocampus may result in forgetting recent events such as a deal on the very day morning. This the main reason why an Alzheimer patient may forget his usual route such as the way to his house.
