Scientists have discovered a new method of spreading Alzheimer’s disease between people
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Scientists have discovered that Alzheimer’s disease can be passed from person to person through rare medical conditions.
This is evidenced by the results of a study by scientists from University College London, published in the journal Nature Medicine, writes The Guardian.
Between 1959 and 1985, at least 1,848 patients in the UK received human growth hormone extracted from the pituitary glands of cadavers, the researchers said.
This practice was banned in 1985. Then it turned out that some patients died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) because the hormone samples were contaminated with proteins that cause this disease.
| Photo: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images |
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare fatal brain disease caused by the infectious agent prion (a protein with an abnormal structure).
After the death of 80 hormone transplant patients, amyloid-beta protein, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, was found in their brains.
At the same time, scientists are not sure that the deceased could have developed Alzheimer’s disease.
Later, the scientists studied eight patients who received human growth hormone from cadavers but did not have CHD. In five, symptoms of dementia were found, and in three of them, the results of brain scans confirmed the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
In the other three patients, the situation was less complex: one person had mild cognitive impairment, another reported cognitive difficulties, and one had no symptoms.
As scientists note with reference to DNA research, only five patients had a tendency to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
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| Photo: GSO Images/Getty Images |
According to the results of the study, scientists claim that Alzheimer’s disease can occur as a result of treatment with contaminated proteins from the pituitary gland.
“This only happens when certain tissues and brain cells are transplanted into a person. But these operations are rare.”– said co-author of the study John Koling.
The team of scientists added that thanks to the results of their work, scientists now know about a new way of spreading Alzheimer’s disease.
“Such a method of transplanting cells into the human brain was prohibited more than 40 years ago. Nowadays, experts are very careful about transferring brain tissue between people.”Andrew Doig, professor of biochemistry at the University of Manchester, noted.
Earlier we reported that scientists have discovered 5 subtypes of Alzheimer’s disease.
Read also: What is it like when your relative has Alzheimer’s (dementia)? Personal stories and scientific explanation
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