A breakthrough in working out the mysteries of Alzheimer's disease is just another inch towards the milestones of scientific discovery in this area.
Photo: AFP
Scientists have taken a step forward in finding a new model to crack the Alzheimer's enigma.
They think they've figured out how brain cells die in the disease, something that's been a mystery for decades.
A ground-breaking study has revealed that neurons undergo a programmed cell death called necroptosis when exposed to the proteins linked to Alzheimer's – a sort of cell suicide. The study pinpoints an RNA gene called MEG3 as a potential key player in this process.
The findings open up the possibility of new drugs to and therapies targeting the disease.
There's no known cure for Alzheimer's, and the world's ageing population means we're about to experience a huge increase.
In New Zealand around 70,000 people currently have dementia, but Auckland University estimates that number will rise to 170,000 by 2050 and will cost us $6 billion by then.
One in four Kiwis die with dementia and Alzheimer's is its most common form, making up about 60 to 70 percent of cases.
In the US, substantial amounts of research dollars are being thrown at the problem, but New Zealand is doing some world-class work in the area, too.
Today on The Detail we talk to two women, both of whom lost a grandfather to Alzheimer's, who are now part of the effort to make progress towards treatments and therapies.
Erin Cawston is a research fellow in the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland and is looking into blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's.
She's just been awarded a Lottery Health Research grant to import some ultra-sensitive technology that can measure very low levels of proteins in the blood – called a single molecule array.
The hope is that eventually a blood test will be able to tell you if you're developing a form of dementia, but there are huge amounts of work to be done before your GP can use it to back up a diagnosis.
Dr Sarah Schonberger Photo: supplied
Sarah Schonberger is the head of research at the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand. She did her PhD in Alzheimer's, is in charge of all the grant applications that come in, and translates science-speak into language that donors and lay people can understand.
She talks about tau tangles and amyloid plaques: proteins that go wrong, start to invade the brain and lead it to lose its grip on memory.
She says while this new paper is exciting, making milestones in this field is a matter of "inchstones" along the way.
"That's what we fund – people to keep inching forward with their research to get through to that milestone.
"Everything, I think, is really exciting and potentially ground-breaking," she says. "But when you see it in the news, there's also that caution that it gives people false hope. It may not get to that [successful] stage, or it may not get there for another 20 years, and it's not necessarily something that will be helpful to people who have Alzheimer's disease right now.
"And that's the hard thing. Because I think people are really wanting that cure for their loved one, right now."
Find out more by listening to the full episode.
Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.
You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
Photo:
