Research adds weight to new thinking on Alzheimer's disease
Published 11 August 2010
New research in worms raises questions about whether solid clumps or plaques that form in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease are part of disease progression or a natural part of ageing.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have today (Wednesday, 11 August 2010) reported that proteins other than those associated with neurodegenerative diseases clump together as a normal part of ageing. The discovery, in C. elegans roundworm, adds to other evidence that the process of Alzheimer's is more complicated than originally thought.
Alzheimer's Society comment:
Professor Clive Ballard'This study supports recent ground-breaking research which highlights that the key to treating Alzheimer's lies in understanding more about the key proteins, not just reducing their total amount. Further research in this important area will help scientists target new drug treatments in sophisticated ways. One in three people over 65 will die with dementia yet dementia research receives eight times less funding than cancer research. We urgently need more investment so that dementia can be defeated.'
Director of Research
Alzheimer's Society
Ref: Jones R (2010) Protein Aggregation Increases with Age. PLoS Biol 8(8): e1000449. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000449
