(Relaxnews) – Researchers confirm in a new study the presence of proteins in the brain in the elderly, which can trigger dementia similar to that which leads to Alzheimer’s disease.
Research by doctors at the University of Kentucky and published in the journal Jama Neurology describes a complex and still poorly understood form of dementia. This other form, caused by the protein TDP-43 (discovered in 2006), was identified last year and is known today as “LATE”.
“One of the things we have learned in the past decade is that many people we think have dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease are not. There are other brain diseases that cause same type of symptoms as Alzheimer’s, including some that we only discovered recently, “said Erin Abner, associate professor at the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky, who participated in the ‘study.
In this new study, analyzes of data from autopsies performed on the brains of 375 older adults were performed at the University of Kentucky Alzheimer’s Center. When the research team examined the medical data of the participants, it noted that some people suffered not only from Alzheimer’s pathology, but also from a pathology indicating the presence of TDP-43 and another protein called “alpha synuclein”. The study found that about 20% of participants had this condition and that their form of dementia was more serious than the other patients.
“This is not good news because it means that even if we could cure Alzheimer’s disease completely, we would still have to deal with TDP-43 and synuclein alpha, and they are common in the elderly. We need to understand exactly what we are facing as we try to stop dementia. We still have a lot to learn, “said Erin Abner.
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