Health
Evidence of Alzheimer's beginnings
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 21, 2008
Scientists have long questioned whether the abundant amounts of amyloid plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease actually caused the neurological disease or were a by-product of its progress.
Now, researchers using new techniques have shown that a two-molecule aggregate of beta-amyloid protein fragments might play a role in initiating the disease. The findings, which appear online in the June Nature Medicine, could help find a new target for drug therapies.
The scientists noted that further insights into the early stages of this disease process may answer questions not only about Alzheimer's but also about other age-related memory impairments.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/07/21/hlbf0721.htm.
