Alzheimer's? Why?

[Monomer]

The effect of curcumin on Alzheimer's is being investigated:

Curcumin and Alzheimer’s Disease. Our group has tested curcumin in several models for Alzheimer’s and found that it not only reduces oxidative damage and inflammation (as expected), but also reduces amyloid accumulation and synaptic marker loss and promotes amyloid phagocytosis and clearance. Curcumin worked to prevent synaptic marker and cognitive deficits caused by amyloid peptide infusion and abeta oligomer toxicity in vitro.

Mission&Team

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Monomer

The effect of curcumin on Alzheimer's is being investigated:


Mission&Team

Silly old herbs to the rescue yet again! (see maleria)
I love it.
I tried to grow some from a root bought at woolworths (supermarket) without any luck.
I will try again now.

Curcumin- major source turmeric , (a curry spice that grows a bit like ginger) is popping up a lot in medical research these days
EG
Curcumin has anticancer effects

Curry powder is a mixture predominantly composed of turmeric root extract and other spices such as coriander and fenugreek.

Curcumin, a turmeric root extract, has been shown to possess activity in the treatment and prevention of cancer, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease. The molecular mechanism for its anticancer effect is largely unknown, although it is thought to inhibit the synthesis of MDM2, an oncoprotein known to bind p53 and modulate p21 expression.

There is a very exciting study going on in Australia.
I am going to try and add an ABC podcast to this link ( unfortunately the cash starved ABC -pollies. of all ilk hate it-only keeps radio shows for 4 weeks)

[Michaelangelica]

Good article on Alzheimers
Taking On Alzheimer’s - New York Times

[Boerseun]

Does anybody know whether there's any truth to the aluminium-containing anti-perspirant connection with Alzheimer's?

I've stopped using it, just to be on the safe side. But now I sweat. Damn.

[Monomer]

Originally Posted by Boerseun

Does anybody know whether there's any truth to the aluminium-containing anti-perspirant connection with Alzheimer's?

I'm not too sure about this.

Aluminium has been found in the brains of those with alzheimer's:

Water Contamination, Aluminum and Alzheimer's Disease
Great Moments in Science - Aluminium & Alzheimer's


It seems that if we're not getting aluminium from antiperspirant then we're getting it from other sources:

Heavy Metal? Exploring the Aluminum/Alzheimer's Link

[Michaelangelica]

Hopefully there is an audio file here on Alzheimer's and testosterone.
Worth a listen
Very current research.

NO?
I'll ask for help

meanwhileprions seem to be important

Professor Hooper concludes: "Until now, the normal function of prion proteins has remained unclear, but our findings clearly identify a role for normal prion proteins in regulating the production of beta-amyloid and in doing so preventing formation of Alzheimer’s plaques.

ScienceDaily: Alzheimer's Prevention Role Discovered For Prions

Prion Propagates In Foreign Host

Science Daily — Using baker's yeast and another fungus, researchers report the first successful propagation of a prion from one organism to another.

ScienceDaily: Prion Propagates In Foreign Host

Not sure what this means.

[maikeru]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

ScienceDaily: Prion Propagates In Foreign Host

Not sure what this means.

TSE and other prion diseases are sometimes transmissible between different species, as seen with the unfortunate BSE and vCJD syndromes in Europe. Prions, it seems, were transmitted through sheep (scrapies) --> cattle (BSE) --> and humans (vCJD) because of the similarity of the native brain protein in all of these species. To my understanding, animals which have PrP that is dissimilar enough to avoid the "misfolding" and "transmission" that BSE prion proteins can induce are either highly resistant to TSEs or immune to it, because their proteins cannot be "messed up" by the prion proteins from other species. (This doesn't mean that they are immune to their own prion diseases, though. It's just another example of the difficulty facing diseases when they try to jump the "species barrier.")

Now to tie the explanation above with your link, this is directly relevant to the research because scientists have replicated a similar cross-species transmission process in a favorite test organism, yeast, and another fungi. Yeast possess a protein similar to prion protein in animals and can suffer from some of the effects of TSE-like prion diseases, where their proteins misfold, clump, and cause malfunction in the organism. Being able to reproduce and study the transmission of prion diseases allows for greater understanding and future treatments, especially when we understand better how prions work in such a "simple" model organism as yeast. Scientists really like simple, cheap, understandable models for obvious reasons.

Here are some readings on prions:
chembytes e-zine 2002 - Prions show their metal (This is an old article, but I used it when I wrote a paper on BSE about 3 years ago for a virology and diseases class. I think it's pretty good.)
Prion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Of course, Wiki to the rescue!)

If any of my information is not correct or is out-of-date, please forgive me... It's been a couple years since I looked prions and TSEs over in some detail.

[Michaelangelica]

Draining Away Brain's Toxic Protein To Stop Alzheimer's

"We used to think that Alzheimer's disease was a problem with the production of too much amyloid-beta, but it's become clear in recent years that the problem is with faulty clearance of amyloid-beta," said Zlokovic, professor of Neurosurgery and Neurology and director of the Frank P. Smith Laboratory for Neuroscience and Neurosurgery Research. "We aren't really talking about massive amounts of amyloid-beta. Even a small malfunction in the elaborate system that carries it into or out of the brain could lead, over years, to accumulate in amounts that damage the brain."

. . .
Zlokovic's group decided to try to reduce amyloid-beta levels in the body by synthesizing an altered, super-potent form of sLRP that binds amyloid-beta more efficiently than natural sLRP. In blood samples from patients with Alzheimer's disease, the modified version of sLRP, known as LRP-IV, soaked up and virtually eliminated amyloid-beta.

The compound had an even more dramatic effect in mice with features of Alzheimer's disease: LRP-IV lowered the levels of amyloid-beta in their brains by 85 to 90 percent. The mice that received the compound also had improved learning and memory compared to mice that did not receive LRP-IV, and they had 65 percent more blood flow in their brains in response to brain stimulation -- a flick of their whiskers
. . .
The team is now working with a company created by Zlokovic, Socratech, to create a form of LRP-IV that could be tested in people. Zlokovic hopes to have such a product ready for testing within two years..

ScienceDaily: Draining Away Brain's Toxic Protein To Stop Alzheimer's

[Michaelangelica]

News
Published online: 20 August 2007; | doi:10.1038/news070820-2
Early dementia causes weight loss
Women show signs of physical change a decade before mental decline.

Mary Muers


Women could stop bothering to prepare meals as dementia sets in.
Getty
Researchers have found a simple physical symptom that accompanies the early, subtle brain changes that lead to dementia. Women who will go on to develop dementia begin to lose weight at least ten years before diagnosis, say researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

While the symptom of weight loss is too common to serve as a usable early warning sign for mental decline, researchers hope other such physical changes could be used to spot dementia before memory loss sets in.

David Knopman, who led the study published in Neurology1 today, thinks the women may have shed the weight because creeping damage in their brains caused them to lose interest in food. He speculates that the disease could cause apathy or dull the senses of taste and smell, making food less appealing.

Neurologists have long suspected that conditions such as Alzheimer's disease begin to develop 10-20 years before diagnosis. But spotting such early changes has proven difficult. This is one of only a few studies to make a link between physical symptoms and emerging dementia.

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/0708.../070820-2.html

[Hill]

Originally Posted by Monomer

I'm not too sure about this.

Aluminium has been found in the brains of those with alzheimer's:

Water Contamination, Aluminum and Alzheimer's Disease
Great Moments in Science - Aluminium & Alzheimer's


It seems that if we're not getting aluminium from antiperspirant then we're getting it from other sources:

Heavy Metal? Exploring the Aluminum/Alzheimer's Link

Another study indicates you also, or instead, may need to worry about copper. Copper link to Alzheimer's disease - 12 August 2003 - New Scientist