Pam Belluck of the New York Times reported yesterday on a series of studies which might offer a clue into the mystery of “Why do some people whose brains accumulate the plaques and tangles so strongly associated with Alzheimer’s not develop the disease?”
A series of studies by Harvard scientists suggests a possible answer, one that could lead to new treatments if confirmed by other research. The memory and thinking problems of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, which affect an estimated seven million Americans, may be related to a failure in the brain’s stress response system, the new research suggests. If this system is working well, it can protect the brain from abnormal Alzheimer’s proteins; if it gets derailed, critical areas of the brain start degenerating.
Read the full article here.