DALLAS: Inflammatory brain changes related to Alzheimer’s disease may occur as many as 20 years before onset of symptoms, according to new research – a finding that could pave the way for early interventions that could halt disease development.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for around 60-80% of all cases. Around 5.3 million people in the US have Alzheimer’s, of whom 5.1 million are aged 65 and older.
Researchers know Alzheimer’s development is related to death of brain cells, or neurons, which leads to the memory loss and behavioural changes that are associated with the disease.
Furthermore, it is believed that brain cell death in Alzheimer’s is related to a combination of inflammatory brain changes, tangles that develop inside neurons (caused by a build-up of tau protein), and the development of plaques between brain cells (caused by an accumulation of protein fragments called beta-amyloid).
Researchers believe that these plaques and tangles impair communication between nerve cells, interfering with the processes that aid brain cell survival.
However, precisely when plaques, tangles and inflammatory brain changes begin has been a mystery – one that principal investigator Prof. Agneta Nordberg, of the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and colleagues believe they may have unraveled with their latest study.