Scientists Are Beginning to See Alzheimer's as a Whole Body Problem

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry notes some researchers are beginning to consider Alzheimer's as a whole-body problem that arises in the brain, reports WorldHealth.net . A team at the University of British Columbia suggests the disorder may be induced by beta amyloid proteins from the liver and kidney, which migrate to the brain through the bloodstream and accumulate into plaques in nerves that disrupt electrical signals. They showed how beta amyloid circulates via parabiosis by attaching two mice together to share the same blood supply, with one mouse engineered to carry a mutant human gene that produces high levels of beta amyloid. The healthy mouse contracted Alzheimer's after one year, and both mice developed plaques and tangles of protein strands within their neurons that disrupted functions of the organ, and ultimately led to their deaths. The team thinks a method for biochemically tagging beta amyloids could enable kidneys and liver to process and flush them from the body before they can cause damage.