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Any kind of severe brain injury increases the risk of
developing dementia later in life. Starting with this hypothesis, researchers
from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
and from the University
of Milan sought to find
out why brain injury is linked to a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's
disease. The study is to be published in the August 29 issue of Science.
Researchers took samples of the fluid between the brain
cells of 18 patients who were recovering from traumatic brain injuries or
ruptured brain aneurysms for this study.
Changes in the amount of amyloid beta, a protein that is
believed to play a key role in Alzheimer's disease, were thoroughly studied.
"Proving that we can directly measure amyloid beta in
the human brain is an important step forward for both clinical and basic
research, and that may be true not just in Alzheimer's disease but also in
other serious neurological disorders," says co-first author David L.
Brody, M.D., Ph.D., a Washington
University neurologist.
Apparently, as neuronal activity increases, levels of
amyloid-beta in the brain also go up. This protein is best known for causing
plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. It is a normal
component of the brain, but scientists do not really know what it does.
Similar previous studies were made using mice instead of men
and they showed that amyloid-beta is a byproduct of brain cell activity, and
with studies in people that show the areas of the brain that are most active
are the most prone to developing Alzheimer’s plaques.
Nothing is known for sure yet. “This study raises more
questions than it answers,” Brody says. “It’s really just the beginning.”
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