Alzheimer’s disease

Healthy Mitochondria Could Prevent Alzheimer’s disease Progression

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Researchers from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have found rendering mitochondria resistant to damage can stop Alzheimer’s disease and other diseases caused by amyloid toxicity. Alzheimer’s disease leads to dementia and is becoming more and more of a burden on healthcare systems. The disease is believed to be caused by an accumulation of toxic plaques in the brain and an abnormal aggregation of a beta-amyloid inside neurons. Previous research has looked into treatment for Alzheimer’s disease by reducing the formation of amyloid plaques.  These results were not very promising and now researchers are looking for other treatment strategies such as considering Alzheimer’s disease as a metabolic disease. The researchers looked at mitochondria, which are energy-producing powerhouses of cells, and important in metabolism. The researchers found that by boosting mitochondria defenses against a particular form of protein stress a reduction … Read more

Gut Microbes can Worsen Neurodegenerative Conditions

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Research has shown that microbial organisms in the gut can influence health and disease in many ways. More recent research has shown that gut microbes may cause or worsen neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Now researchers at the University of Louisville and University of Michigan have proposed a new term to describe an interaction between gut microbiota and the brain. The term “mapranosis” has been coined for the process by which amyloid proteins produced by microbes (bacteria, fungi and others) alter the structure of proteins (proteopathy) and enhance inflammation in the nervous system, thereby initiating or augmenting brain disease. The researchers hope that by giving the process a name a greater sense of awareness of the process will occur and help with additional research needed for therapeutic opportunities. The researchers feel it is important to define the ways … Read more

Inflammation Plays a Role in Alzheimer’s disease

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Researchers at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University of Bonn have shown that inflammatory mechanisms from the brain’s immune system drive the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The research provides new insights into the pathogenetic mechanisms that may hold the potential for preventing Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms show up. Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition that eventually leads to dementia. The disease is associated with the aggregation of small proteins called “Amyloid-beta” (Abeta), known as “plaques,” that accumulate in the brain and are believed to harm neurons. Prior studies have shown deposits of Abeta trigger inflammatory mechanisms by the brain’s immune system. Researchers believe that deposition and spreading of Abeta likely precede any clinical symptoms by decades. Even so researchers do not fully understand the processes responsible and thus believe by doing so that effective treatments to target Alzheimer’s … Read more

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may help with Alzheimer’s disease

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A study by researchers at Tel Aviv University shows that hyperbaric oxygen treatments may help improve symptoms by patients who have Alzheimer’s disease. Putting someone in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber has been shown in the past to be extremely effective in treating wounds slow to heal. Professional sports athletes, including even Lebron James, have used hyperbaric oxygen chambers to help them better perform in their respective sports. See http://www.slamonline.com/media/slam-tv/lebron-james-recharges-hyperbaric-chamber/. The researchers have shown for the first time that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can actually improve the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease and even correct behavioral deficits associated with the disease. Patients who undergo hyperbaric oxygen therapy breathe in pure oxygen in a pressurized room or chamber. In the chamber, the air pressure is increased to twice that of normal air. When this occurs, oxygen solubility in the blood increases and is transported by … Read more

Elements of Lithium in Water Slows Alzheimer’s Disease Death

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New research shows that trace elements of lithium in drinking water may slow down death rates from Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, rates of diabetes and obesity also decrease if there is lithium in the drinking water. Usually when one hears about something in the drinking water it is in regard to fluoride or lead. For example see the post talking about how if fluoride in drinking water lowers intelligence at https://blog.teethremoval.com/fluoride-in-water-does-not-lower-intelligence/. Lead in drinking water was a problem for example in the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. The researchers in this study collected statistics on various lithium levels in drinking water in 234 counties in the state of Texas. Texas was used for the data on lithium levels because the researchers said it was freely available. Lithium is a water-soluble alkali metal found in mineral springs and igneous rocks. Lithium is … Read more