Let's talk about the man who has spent most of his life helping Alzheimer's and dementia patients. This is more than just research for St. Paul scientist, William H. Frey II. It's personal.
Brain disorders took the lives of his relatives. Since 1977, he has been fighting this battle against Alzheimer's. He spearheaded the research in Regions Hospital in St. Paul. For 40 years, Frey has been dedicated to his work in finding the solution how to end Alzheimer's.
He is a senior research director in HealthPartners Center for Memory and Aging. He gathered the biggest collections of brains for dementia research, and his work became the center of Alzheimer's disease management.
After 27 years, the researcher has made a big discovery. A new treatment is on the works, and it is going through a clinical trial in St. Paul. This is not only beneficial for Alzheimer's patients but for Parkinson's, stroke, brain injury and other medical issues.
The said treatment might take at least 10 years to be available in pharmacies based on Dr. Michael Rosenbloom, Frey's colleague. Dr. Rosenbloom remains to be positive about the technique's efficacy.
For decades, Alzheimer's research was most commonly relegated to the study of amyloids, or protein fragments, which clump together and prevent the brain from working properly.
Alzheimer's research was mostly concentrated on the study of beta-amyloid proteins, the one responsible for the disease. Terry Barclay, a neuropsychologist involved in the study at HealthPartners says, "Unfortunately, that line of research has not given us as many useful treatments as was hoped for." Barclay adds that a new technique for treatment is greatly needed.
Frey discovered the mist treatment in 1989, but people were not excited about it. They had a hard time trusting the idea. Just to patent his invention, he spent at least eight years trying to get it done. In 1997, he finally had his patent. He eventually made a more precise method using the intranasal procedure.
To certain scientists, they think of Alzheimer's as the "diabetes of the brain." The skill to remember is driven by energy. Glucose or blood sugar produces energy. However, those with Alzheimer's have a hard time processing glucose. As insulin provides patients the ability to breakdown glucose in the blood, patients with Alzheimer's may have a better memory if insulin is administered. It doesn't even interfere with the blood glucose levels.
Alzheimer's cases are expected to rise for about 40 percent on 2025. In 2050, there is a possibility that about 16 million people might be diagnosed with it.
Frey says, "I've seen firsthand the consequences of having someone you love and care about get Alzheimer's or get Parkinson's and die from it." He adds that this is really motivating for him.
Brains with Alzheimer's usually appear to have free-floating iron - molecules would collide into the good and healthy cells, and then cause damage to them.
Frey conducted an experiment wherein he gave iron-binding drugs to the mice through their noses. These mice experienced stroke before and the scientists discovered their brain damage decreased at 55 percent after the administration of the drug. On another note, giving this drug to healthy animals will reduce stroke damage.
There is a big possibility that people who are at risk of brain damage, like football players, may be protected from chronic traumatic encephalopathy before the actual trauma happens. Frey says, "That's the direction we're going, if we can get the funding."
Other scientists in Europe have discovered that the intranasal insulin helps enhance memory in adults. Frey's work is indeed a good thing - it's something that we will look forward to in the future.
Dr. David Tal has more than twenty years of clinical experience. He strongly believes that medical treatment can improve the life of Alzheimer's and memory loss patients of any age. His participation at the Age Matters Clinic allows him to share his knowledge with patients and their families.
Friday, 13 May 2016
Sunday, 1 May 2016
Promising Study: Memory Retrieval In Mice With Early Alzheimer's
Promising Study: Memory retrieval in mice with early Alzheimer's
Memory retrieval is a tricky thing if diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer's.
It seems that there's new hope for Alzheimer's patients. Based on a recent study from Nature, senior author Susumu Tonegawa says that patients still have the ability to form memories. Retrieving them though is a hefty task for them.
Tonegawa and his team facilitated a study last year which involves retrieving lost memories of mice and the process of optogenetics. Their technique, optogenetics, uses light to stimulate and
In that study, Tonegawa and colleagues found they were able to retrieve the "lost" memories of these mice using a technique known as optogenetics, which involves the use of light to activate and manage neurons or brain cells. This prompted the scientists to spearhead another investigation with their recent research.
The researchers genetically modified the two kinds of mice. This would prompt them to develop beta-amyloid protein, which is responsible for plaques in the brain that cause memory loss in humans.
The researchers did an experiment with the mice. They put them in a container with healthy mice where they all got an electric shock to the foot. All of them exhibited fear.
After a few days, the normal mice still showed fear which means that they remembered the shock whereas the ones with Alzheimer's did not exhibit any fear which suggests they don't remember the shock.
The lead study author Dheeraj Roy explains, "Short-term memory seems to be normal, on the order of hours. But for long-term memory, these early Alzheimer's mice seem to be impaired."
However, upon using optogenetics, they discovered that the little creatures still had recollection of the foot shock.
The group designed the mice to release a light-delicate protein called channelrhodopsin in neurons in the hippocampus associated to fearful events. The researchers activated the engineered neurons through light. They shone the light on the mice - the creatures exhibited fear instantly.
Roy states, "Directly activating the cells that we believe are holding the memory gets them to retrieve it." He added as well, "This suggests that it is indeed an access problem to the information, not that they're unable to learn or store this memory."
The next day, when the Alzheimer's mice were returned to their containers, not one showed any fear. This means that their memories of the shock were lost. The researchers looked into the possibility of using optogenetics to retrieve memories for longer retention.
Within the span of 3 hours, the scientists shone light on the cells continually. They did this in the entorhinal cortex of the mice which is linked to the cells in the hippocampus.
After one week, the mice were put back into their chamber and they exhibited fear. This means that they remembered the shock this time, even without optogenetics.
The researchers discovered that the cells connected to the fearful memory had dendritic spines which are longer. These spines help neurons communicate with others.
The longer spines mean that the optogenetic process was effective - it enhanced the link between the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex. In Alzheimer's, one would find that these links are damaged. The researchers discovered that the process would fail if the targeted cells area was too large. In humans, the technique should have to be well-precise. It is too risky for use in humans as it affects too much of the brain.
Tonegawa believes though that there is a chance for a better process for memory retrieval. He says, "It's possible that in the future some technology will be developed to activate or inactivate cells deep inside the brain, like the hippocampus or entorhinal cortex, with more precision. Basic research as conducted in this study provides information on cell populations to be targeted, which is critical for future treatments and technologies."
Dr. David Tal has more than twenty years of clinical experience. He strongly believes that medical treatment can improve the life of Alzheimer's and memory loss patients of any age. His participation at the Age Matters Clinic allows him to share his knowledge with patients and their families.
Memory retrieval is a tricky thing if diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer's.
It seems that there's new hope for Alzheimer's patients. Based on a recent study from Nature, senior author Susumu Tonegawa says that patients still have the ability to form memories. Retrieving them though is a hefty task for them.
Tonegawa and his team facilitated a study last year which involves retrieving lost memories of mice and the process of optogenetics. Their technique, optogenetics, uses light to stimulate and
In that study, Tonegawa and colleagues found they were able to retrieve the "lost" memories of these mice using a technique known as optogenetics, which involves the use of light to activate and manage neurons or brain cells. This prompted the scientists to spearhead another investigation with their recent research.
The researchers genetically modified the two kinds of mice. This would prompt them to develop beta-amyloid protein, which is responsible for plaques in the brain that cause memory loss in humans.
The researchers did an experiment with the mice. They put them in a container with healthy mice where they all got an electric shock to the foot. All of them exhibited fear.
After a few days, the normal mice still showed fear which means that they remembered the shock whereas the ones with Alzheimer's did not exhibit any fear which suggests they don't remember the shock.
The lead study author Dheeraj Roy explains, "Short-term memory seems to be normal, on the order of hours. But for long-term memory, these early Alzheimer's mice seem to be impaired."
However, upon using optogenetics, they discovered that the little creatures still had recollection of the foot shock.
The group designed the mice to release a light-delicate protein called channelrhodopsin in neurons in the hippocampus associated to fearful events. The researchers activated the engineered neurons through light. They shone the light on the mice - the creatures exhibited fear instantly.
Roy states, "Directly activating the cells that we believe are holding the memory gets them to retrieve it." He added as well, "This suggests that it is indeed an access problem to the information, not that they're unable to learn or store this memory."
The next day, when the Alzheimer's mice were returned to their containers, not one showed any fear. This means that their memories of the shock were lost. The researchers looked into the possibility of using optogenetics to retrieve memories for longer retention.
Within the span of 3 hours, the scientists shone light on the cells continually. They did this in the entorhinal cortex of the mice which is linked to the cells in the hippocampus.
After one week, the mice were put back into their chamber and they exhibited fear. This means that they remembered the shock this time, even without optogenetics.
The researchers discovered that the cells connected to the fearful memory had dendritic spines which are longer. These spines help neurons communicate with others.
The longer spines mean that the optogenetic process was effective - it enhanced the link between the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex. In Alzheimer's, one would find that these links are damaged. The researchers discovered that the process would fail if the targeted cells area was too large. In humans, the technique should have to be well-precise. It is too risky for use in humans as it affects too much of the brain.
Tonegawa believes though that there is a chance for a better process for memory retrieval. He says, "It's possible that in the future some technology will be developed to activate or inactivate cells deep inside the brain, like the hippocampus or entorhinal cortex, with more precision. Basic research as conducted in this study provides information on cell populations to be targeted, which is critical for future treatments and technologies."
Dr. David Tal has more than twenty years of clinical experience. He strongly believes that medical treatment can improve the life of Alzheimer's and memory loss patients of any age. His participation at the Age Matters Clinic allows him to share his knowledge with patients and their families.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)