Natural chemicals found in green tea and red wine may disrupt a key step of the Alzheimer’s disease pathway, according to new research from the University of Leeds.
In early-stage laboratory experiments, the researchers identified the process which allows harmful clumps of protein to latch on to brain cells, causing them to die. They were able to interrupt this pathway using the purified extracts of EGCG from green tea and resveratrol from red wine.
Source: Green tea and red wine extracts interrupt Alzheimer’s disease pathway in cells
Scientists believe amyloid protein plays a role in Alzheimer’s but are still trying to explain how.
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, which is characterized by memory loss and dementia, is a protein called amyloid. In patients who die of the disease, sticky plaques of the protein are found in the brain at autopsy, although not all people with amyloid deposits develop Alzheimer’s. But why does the protein start to gum up the delicate network of nerves in the brain? Some recent evidence suggested that the protein, which the body makes normally in small amounts, spreads from one cell to another in the brain of affected patients, eventually compromising multiple regions of the brain over time.
Source: Study Shows Alzheimer’s Protein May Not Spread Like a Virus | TIME.com
Keeping your brain active well into old age can come down to a few simple lifestyle factors.
The prospect of developing Alzheimer’s disease is a frightening one for many Australians. However, staving off the disease could be as simple as making some sensible lifestyle choices now, helping you towards a brighter future and a happier old age.
Here are 20 of the best tips to help you avoid Alzheimer’s – an edited extract from 100 Simple Things you can do to Avoid Alzheimer’s, by Jean Carper
Buy it here: 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s and Age-Related Memory Loss
Source: Twenty ways to avoid Alzheimer’s | News.com.au
At “Auguste’s Cottage” at Allisonville Meadows, it takes just a few notes to get some of the Alzheimer’s patients up on their feet and dancing.But it’s much more than just fun — it’s music therapy that’s triggering memories that the disease has stolen.
“Music stores itself in the long-term memories very deep in your brain, and even though you have residents who are not able to communicate effectively anymore with words, somehow they can still remember music that was a big part of their lives when they were younger,” said Amanda Janz, with the Alzheimer’s Association.
A new drug for Alzheimer`s has shown “encouraging” results in early trials on mice, claim British scientists who believe that it can stop the disease before it seriously affects a person`s mental abilities.
In early trials conducted on mice they found the compound reduced by a third the number of `plaques` on the brain, which are associated with the disease.
New drug can stop Alzheimer`s early
A dramatic shift is beginning in the disappointing struggle to find something to slow the damage of the Alzheimer’s disease epidemic: The first U.S. experiments with “brain pacemakers” for Alzheimer’s are getting under way. Scientists are looking beyond drugs to implants in the hunt for much-needed new treatments. The research is in its infancy.