Recently, a new study was published discussing a new clue in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease: inflammatory triggers.
An inflammatory trigger is an event or substance that triggers inflammation within the body. When it comes to Alzheimer’s disease, the inflammatory trigger occurs within the brain, and is somehow connected to the development or advance of the disease.
Both Alzheimer’s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy see deposits of a protein called tau cause inflammation within the brain. When tau proteins have a negative impact on what has been referred to as “jumping genes.” These genes can create double stranded RNA that sends instructions for other cells in the brain to instigate inflammation.
In other words, the tau proteins that can lead to the Alzheimer’s symptoms we are familiar with also can spark inflammation. Measuring this type of inflammation could help to better and earlier diagnoses of these diseases. It can allow doctors to get a better idea of who is at a higher risk of the disease, too.
Inflammation isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For example, when you sprain your ankle, the joint becomes inflamed as a defense mechanism. The inflammation leads to increased blood flow within the injured area of the body, helping to protect the injured area and speed up the healing process. It is when inflammation is not quickly resolved that inflammation becomes toxic. Inflammation is one of the events that occurs within Alzheimer’s disease as plaque spreads throughout the brain, causing the hallmark memory and cognitive issues that we associate with the disease. By better identifying the things that lead to inflammation, we can do a better job of preventing and treating the disease.
This isn’t a cure for the disease. There’s still a long way to go before researchers develop a cure for Alzheimer’s, unfortunately. However, studies like this have the potential to help us better understand the disease and how it interacts with the body and with treatment. It might not be a cure, but it has the potential to bring us a step closer to one. Hopefully, this project does exactly that. In the meantime, there’s a lot of room for those that are suffering from Alzheimer’s to live a higher quality of life thanks to these advances.
The researchers published their findings in the journal, Science Advances. They are based out of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Alzheimer’s disease is devastating–not just for the individual suffering from it, but for the whole family. It doesn’t just impact one person, but all of the people that are close to them. It’s hard to see a loved one suffering and struggling in a way that they never did before.
If you’re unsure of where to start when it comes to the care of a loved one suffering from dementia, please know that there are services out there that can help. We’re one of them. If you’d like to know more about memory care and how in-home care can help your family in this respect, please don’t hesitate to reach out. One of our trained professionals would be happy to help get you pointed in the right direction.
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