Personal Health

New hope for dementia patients: Harvard researchers find a woman who is immune to Alzheimer’s

In a Colombian family, all ill almost, sooner or later, Alzheimer’s to a woman. Today it is well over 70 and healthy. A gene mutation protects your brain from decline. This is a godsend for Alzheimer’s research: It is completely new therapy approaches, are opening up.

A family Clan in Colombia for many years has been the coveted object of research of scientists who want to get Alzheimer’s disease on the track. Ill but a majority of the approximately 6000 members of the extended family from the Region of Medellin at a young age from Alzheimer’s disease. The most common dementia Form and the power of them between the ages of 40 and 50 is noticeable. For generations has this been going on.

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Gene mutation is to blame for early Alzheimer’s

Fault in the hereditary Alzheimer’s disease to a Mutation in the gene PSEN1 is. Some of the family members, the researchers discovered a gene variant that delayed the onset of the disease for eight to ten years. Was prevents never.

Now a research team led by Joseph Arbodela-Velasquez from Harvard Medical School 1200 Clan has examined members of the new. They came across a family member that the retirement age is reached without any restriction.

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No symptoms, in spite of protein Plaques in the brain

The woman, whose identity is to remain unknown, is well over 70 years old and shows no symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Only a slight delay in the brain activity indicates that the disease outbreak would have on her 30 years ago.

Because the woman carries the same gene mutation as their Relatives in. Also, your brain shows considerable amounts of the typical Amyloid Plaques, which destroy the capacity for thought and the reminder of the Affected gradually. And yet the Pensioner seems to be immune to the dreaded disease symptoms.

Alzheimer’s protection lies in the genes

The exceptional resistance to dementia, the researchers also seen in a gene mutation is justified. The APOE3 variant, under the name of Christchurch Mutation is known, it seems that the effect of PSEN1 abandon, as the scientists in the journal “Nature Medicine” to write. The woman was the only test Subject to a two-fold copy of this gene mutation.

The discovery of the body’s own Alzheimer’s protection at the genetic level could now be the Basis for completely new therapeutic approaches against Alzheimer’s, the hope of the researcher.

Therapy hope for the future for millions

Before a therapeutic Benefit is possible, it must first be researched, how, exactly, the contactor operates at the end of a gene mutation. The observation has been made only to a single Person.

For the approximately 1.7 million people in Germany are affected, according to the Alzheimer’s society currently of dementia, most have Alzheimer’s, this line of research, success is probably too late. But after each year, 300,000 people in this country re-develop, is the discovery in Colombia of a real breakthrough.

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