A series of studies by [b]Harvard[/b] scientists, published in [s]Nature[/s], suggests a possible answer to one of the big scientific mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease: Why do some people whose brains accumulate the plaques and tangles so strongly associated with Alzheimer’s not develop the disease? [s]The New York Times[/s] reports that the research, published in Nature suggests that the memory and thinking problems of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, which affect an estimated seven million Americans, may be related to a failure in the brain’s stress response system. If this system is working well, it can protect the brain from abnormal Alzheimer’s proteins; if it gets derailed, critical areas of the brain start degenerating. 'This is an extremely important study,' says [b]Li-Huei Tsai, director of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology[/b]. 'This is the first study that is really starting to provide a plausible pathway to explain why some people are more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s than other people.'
[link url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/health/fetal-gene-may-protect-brain-from-alzheimers-study-finds.html?emc=edit_th_20140320&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=42505380&_r=0]Full report in The New York Times[/link]
[link url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13163.html]Nature article preview[/link]