The Boston Globe just posted a story about a study that says immune cells, not brain cells, might be the genetic root of AD. The article appears on the bostonglobe.com website. I do not have enough brain cells to fully understand this story but those who do, like Charlotte, marche, marsh, or others, might be able to explain it. Here is an excerpt:
- - - Boston scientists have developed a technique that can trace a cancer cell back to the tissue where it started, raising hope for one day improving treatment for mysterious cancers of unknown origin. Using the same data set, a team in Cambridge discovered, to their surprise, that immune cells -- and not brain cells involved in learning and memory -- appear to be at the genetic root of Alzheimer’s disease.
* * * The findings were included in a series of papers published Wednesday in the journal Nature that shed light on the genomic circuits that cells activate in order to become a lung cell or a liver cell. Researchers said the findings on Alzheimer’s and cancer are only the first fruits of the application of this new knowledge to understanding human disease and biology.
The insight into Alzheimer’s disease comes by studying a mouse version of the disease developed by Li-Huei Tsai, a neuroscientist at MIT. Researchers were able to use the epigenome maps to decipher the genetic changes associated with the disease. Counter to expectations, the genetic predisposition of Alzheimer’s was rooted in immune cells.
“If somebody asks you, ‘What is the basis of Alzheimer’s disease?’ you’d say something about the brain,” said MIT’s Kellis, who led that study. “This map seems to disagree. ... The reason why you get Alzheimer’s is that you are unlucky in your immune system, not unlucky in your neurons.”
It makes sense. Probably all diseases are linked to the immune system - the bodies way to fight and destroy invaders which can cause inflammation. My take on this is they are looking at inflammation, caused by a yet unknown agent, triggers the process of creating the plaque and destruction we know happens with AD. It has long be thought that inflammation the body can not fight off leads to cancers. Time will only tell if they are on the right path. I certainly hope so.
If so, I would think all the pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and genetically modified products in our food chain and the environment are the contributing factors responsible for the majority of the increase of Alzheimer's and other diseases.
I too am not really surprised if it's the immune system attacking the body/brain. My father's side of our family (and me) have various auto-immune related illnesses...MS, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus to name a few. Yet interestingly no one has dementia of any form. Hubs's family has no auto-immune diseases yet they have dementia. Time will tell.
Here is another very interesting article about research into what might cause Alzheimer's.
I'm unable to post the link, but if you go to the New York Times website, then click on the "Health" section, you will see an article by Gina Kolata called, "Could Alzheimer's Stem From Infections? It Makes Sense, Experts Say."