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Alzheimer's Disease May Occur in People As Early As 20 Years

According to a study, the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease starts with people attaining adulthood. This slowly progressing disease affects the brain when an abnormal protein starts accumulating inside neurons of young human brains. This is a bad finding as many people of productive age lose their ability to think properly as a result of this disease. The authors of this study have published the results in journal Brain. In this article, we would be looking at the important results of this study for the benefit of readers.

Early Onset of Disease

This disease develops in the brain when an abnormal amyloid protein starts accumulating in the young neuron cells of healthy human beings. As the days pass by, these proteins form clumps of plaque inside neurons, forming non-conductive layers in them. This results in delayed communication when people become aged. A group of researchers have found certain conditions that are promote amyloid protein production in certain young people. To their dismay, they have found that people can get affected by this disease when they are just 20 years old. The group responsible for this startling discovery is from Feinberg School of Medicine. This research institute comes under the North-western University. It is going to have a bearing on the future research to find a cure for this disease.

Study Methodology

A group of researchers examined the cholinergic neurons of basal forebrain to find out the nature of the damage caused. They found that these neurons get damaged early due to some unforeseen reasons. These neurons are very much involved in superior functions such as memory and attention. On analysis, they found that amyloid molecules had started accumulating inside neurons since early adulthood in people with this disease. This trend continued throughout these peoples' lifespan. The investigators have also found that the similar extent of amyloid accumulation is not seen in other parts of the brain of these people. On chemical analysis, the researchers have also seen that these proteins formed toxic lumps of amyloid oligomers that trigger the cell death in them. Since the lump formation starts very early, their sizes reach alarming proportions in older individuals. The scavenging cells of our body identify these oligomers as markers and remove them. This is the reason the neurons die very early in the brain. So far, there is no plausible cure for this disease and the reason for its onset in certain people is not clear.

Alzheimer's disease slowly affects people as the amyloid proteins start accumulating in neurons. These non-conductive layers delay the inter-neuron communication. Hence, it starts affecting the memory of the people. A study has revealed the conditions in which these proteins start accumulating. The article analyzes the results of this study for the benefit of the readers.

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