Article Sphere Logo
 
Main Article Categories

 Alternative Medicine
 Arts And Entertainment
 Automotives
 Beauty
 Business
 Communications
 Computer And Technology
 Disease And Illness
 Finance
 Food And Beverage
 Health And Fitness
 Home And Family
 Home Based Business
 Insurance
 Internet And E-Business
 Legal
 News And Society
 Pets And Animals
 Product Reviews
 Real Estate
 Recreation And Sports
 Reference And Education
 Self Improvement
 Shopping
 Travel And Leisure
 Women Health And Fitness
 Women Interests And Issues
 Work At Home
 Writing And Speaking
 All 511 Categories
 
"Alzheimer Disease" Article
 Article Directory Home Disease And Illness Alzheimer Disease

Alzheimer's Toxin May Be Key To Slowing Disease

By Expert Author: Baron Grove
View Summary | Submitted: 2005-11-09 | Word Count: 298 words | Views: 222 view(s)
Baron Grove
Australian scientists say they have identified a toxin which plays a key role in the onset of Alzheimer's, raising hope that a drug targeting the toxin could be developed to slow the degenerative brain disease.

The toxin, called quinolinic acid, kills nerve cells in the brain, leading to dysfunction and death, the scientists said.

"Quinolinic acid may not be the cause of Alzheimer's disease, but it plays a key role in its progression," Alzheimer's researcher Dr Karen Cullen from the University of Sydney said in a statement. "It's the smoking gun, if you like."

"While we won't be able to prevent people from getting Alzheimer's disease, we may eventually, with the use of drugs, be able to slow down the progression."

Alzheimer's is a brain-destroying disease that affects millions of people around the world. As the population gets steadily older, experts estimate numbers will balloon to as many as 16 million in the United States alone by 2015.

More than 200,000 people have Alzheimer's disease in Australia and the number is expected to rise to 730,000 by 2050.

Outward symptoms start with memory loss, which progresses to complete helplessness as brain cells are destroyed. In the brain, neurons die as messy plaques and tangles of protein form.

The Alzheimer's research team from Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital, the University of Sydney and Japan's Hokkaido University found quinolinic acid neurotoxicity in the brains of dementia patients.

Quinolinic acid is part of a biochemical pathway called the kynurenine pathway which is also found in other brain disorders, including Huntington's disease and schizophrenia.

The scientists said there were several drugs in an advanced stage of development for other conditions which targeted this pathway and that these drugs, which still need to be tested, could be used to complement other treatments for Alzheimer's.
About the Author/Author Bio

Baron Grove -- http://www.refridgerator.net

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/Alzheimer-s-Toxin-May-Be-Key-To-Slowing-Disease/1836

This Article has been viewed 222 times.

Comments on this Article


More "Alzheimer Disease" Related Articles

 

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Alzheimer Disease" article category.

People interested in the above article "Alzheimer's Toxin May Be Key To Slowing Disease" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

What are the causes of Alzheimer's disease? This has been a question plaguing doctors and researchers for years. Currently, the causes are not entirely known. However, recent research has shed a great deal of light on the subject. There are two kinds of Alzheimer's disease. One type, Familial Alzheimer's disease, is very rare and can be found in less than 10 per cent of the people suffering from Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer’s disease is a serious mental disorder affecting millions of people every year. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, as many as 5.2 million people in the United States are currently living with this disease. Even scarier, as estimated 10 million baby boomers are expected to develop Alzheimer’s in their lifetime.
There are 5 early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease you should watch out for. Most of us know about Alzheimer’s disease but few of us know what these early symptoms are. In this article you’ll discover Alzheimer’s early symptoms so you can take steps today to prevent further memory loss and cognitive...
One could trace back the history of Alzheimer's disease from a presentation and lecture made by a German psychiatrist in 1906 during 37th Meeting of Southwest German Psychiatrists held in Tubingen. Dr. Alois Alzheimer presented his findings on a woman who had died after years of having memory problems and confusion. When Dr. Alzheimer autopsied the patient's brain, he found thick deposits of neuritic plaques outside and around the nerve cells. He also found a lot of twisted bands of fibers or neurofibrillary tangles inside the nerve cells.
While most people are quite familiar with Alzheimer’s disease, the disorder most commonly affecting the mental functioning of the elderly, there is considerably less public awareness of Mild Cognitive Impairment or MCI. If you are like most people, you might wonder “what is Mild Cognitive Impairment? I’ve never even heard of this disorder.”
Aging and memory loss - two things most of us think go hand-in-hand. But science tells us they do not. Memory loss is not a normal part of aging. In fact, actually there are ways to improve your memory as you age. According to Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., President and Medical Director of the non-profit Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation or ARPF: “To achieve brain regeneration, I have discovered that you have to do more than just keep your brain healthy with nutritional therapy, physical exercise, stress management, and appropriate pharmacology.
Without a doubt, there is nothing more painful than watching someone you love wither away from Alzheimer’s disease. Did you know that it is possible to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, one of the most debilitating mental disorders affecting our population today? Read this article to discover what you can do - starting today - to help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s later in life.
Article Directory Home Disease And Illness Alzheimer Disease

Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!
(Search in 26 languages: English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, German,
Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, Serbian
Slovak, Hebrew, Swedish, Romanian, Polish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Czech, Croatian, Bulgarian)
 
 
Copyright © 2005 - by Larry Lim, Singapore - Article Search Engine Directory at ArticleSphere.com™
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. All Trademarks and Servicemarks are the property of the respective owners.
Template Design by Internet Marketing Singapore | Internet Marketing | Singapore Classified
Español Français Bulgarian 汉语 漢語 Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Finnish Deutsch Ελληνικά Italiano 日本語 한국어 Norwegian Polish PortRomanian Русско Serbian Slovak Swedish [أربيك] Hebrew