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Researchers Study Causes of Alzheimer’s

-October 20, 2008 

Researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and the University of California have recently found that reducing fatty acid levels in mice's brains may ward off the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, these researchers found that lowering the levels of fatty acids in mice's brains effectively improved their memories and decreased the effects of dementia.

While similar studies have yet to be performed on human participants, these new findings are, nonetheless, exciting because about 3.4 million Americans currently live with dementia. Of these, over 2 million suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

What is Alzheimer's disease?
Named for a German doctor, Alzheimer's disease is an incurable condition that slowly destroys the brain. While medical experts are still investigating the precise causes of this neurological disorder, once someone develops Alzheimer's, he will suffer from:

• difficulty thinking and speaking
• disorientation
• memory loss
• mood and/or behavioral changes
• poor judgment
• trouble performing/completing routine tasks (such as making a phone call)

As researchers continue searching for a cure, typical Alzheimer's treatments involve medications, such as Aricept or Exelon, and various therapies.

Details of the Study
During their studies, researchers both in England and the U.S. examined thousands of mice's brains to compare the levels of fatty acids in normal brains versus those in brains afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.

In mice, fatty acid levels are regulated by an enzyme known as "PLA2." The more PLA2 present, the more fatty acids will be present – and the more likely mice will suffer from dementia.

Consequently, when researchers discovered that higher concentrations of arachidonic acid were present in Alzheimer's-afflicted brains, they then genetically engineered Alzheimer's mice to have lower levels of PLA2. In these mice, memory stopped deteriorating and many of the other symptoms of Alzheimer's also subsided.

Conclusion of the Study
Because these results have yet to be replicated in a human-based study, clearly further research is needed in this vein of study.

However, these initial findings have led some to theorize that exercising and eating a healthy, low-fat diet is more important than ever – as diet and exercise can help reduce fatty acid levels in the brain (and throughout the body), which may ultimately help prevent or reduce the effects of Alzheimer's disease.

(Source: BBC Health News)

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