The accumulation of protein fragments in the brain begins before dementia symptoms start and increases as dementia becomes more severe. Based on the findings, which suggest that the accumulation of these fragments, called amyloid beta-peptides, is to blame for the dementia of Alzheimer's disease, drugs that remove or block the peptides might help slow down or even prevent the disease. Two types of abnormal growths in the brain -- plaques made up of amyloid beta-peptides and tangles composed of tau proteins -- are telltale signs of Alzheimer's disease. But there's been a controversy about which comes first, plaques or tangles.
The results of the study, however, appear to place the blame on plaques. The beta amyloid is very probably responsible for the dementia. The researchers speculate that the peptides cause nerve damage that lead to dementia and, in turn, the formation of plaques and tangles. And even though much of the focus has been on the collecting of the peptides into plaques, the study shows that high levels of beta amyloids are present in the brains of people with dementia even before plaques develop. Treatment with drugs that block the production of amyloid beta-peptides, which are about to be tested in human trials, might prevent the disease.
The Journal of the American Medical Association 2000;283:1571-1577, 1615-1616
It is interesting to note that there appears to be agreement as to some of the markers of Alzheimers. However, when one reads these studies or news reports, it is important to note that they are written from a drug company's perspective, which is to find a drug to treat the problem. I am quite confident that a drug solution for Alzheimer's will be just a worthless as Rezulin, which was pulled off the market this week. It will work poorly, and be associated with many life- threatening side effects. This will happen nearly every time one implements a drug solution for a chronic health problem as it is not addressing the foundational cause of the problem.