Reading time is 1 mins
.
.
DISCOVERY IN ALZHEIMER FOR NEW TREATMENT METHODS
Scientists have found copper and iron in the brains of dying Alzheimer’s patients. This discovery was the hope for new treatment methods.
Experts at Keele University found copper and iron nanoparticles around 1/10, 000 the size of a pinhead in the brains of two deceased people with Alzheimer’s.
The fragments were discovered in plaques containing harmful proteins known as amyloid, which are linked to Alzheimer’s disease and often accumulate in the spaces between nerve cells.
Elemental metals have been confirmed for the first time in human brain tissue and may help them better understand how they can contribute to the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, researchers said.
.
THERE IS MUCH TO BE LEARNED
A professor of biomedical nanophysics at Keele University, said of the new findings: “in fact, it’s not yet clear whether such particles are really linked to the disease. At least their presence suggests there is more to learn about the way metals are processed in the brain.”
Telling said the discovery of the elemental metals was unexpected, adding: “much more time and more research is needed for the findings to affect treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Ultimately, this array of research could lead to new treatments targeting metals as well as amyloid proteins that are currently being studied.”
The researchers said the discovery was extremely important to slow the progress of these incurable brain diseases.
There are about 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, according to the Alzheimer’s society, and this is expected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.
.
.
.