Within 20 years there may be one treatment for the most common forms of Alzheimer’s.
A research team from the Cardiff University headed by Professor Julie Williams, who stated that she was able to identify ben 92 genes responsible for the progressive condition.
“By 2040 I think we will be able to offer a range of treatments and we may not know exactly why, but one of them will be able to target the wide range of causes.”
How will the treatment ofAlzheimer in 2040?
“Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, a general term referring to loss of memory and other intellectual abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life.” The definition is given byAlzheimer’s Association, who points out that this disorder represents 50-80% of dementia cases.
“This disease is one progressive disease, in which dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild; however, with advanced Alzheimer’s disease, people lose the ability to carry on a conversation and react in their environment. Who [ne] suffer lives an average of eight years after symptoms become apparent to others; However, survival can range from four to twenty yearsdepending on age and other health conditions”.
The news comes from the research center of‘UK Dementia Research Institute based at the Cardiff Universitywhere experts are working to deepen knowledge about this degenerative disease.
Professor Williams – director of the center – said that the gene therapy it has made great strides over the years. After 30 years of research, to date the knowledge possessed could concretely lead to revolutionary results.
“Once you know where to start looking then you can study the effects that genes have on specific brain activity” – argued the researcher, adding – “Tests that cost millions in the 1990s can now be done for around £30. For example we now know that faulty genes that change the way immune cells work called ‘microglia’. These are the brain’s ‘garbage trucks’ that clean up what they see as trash. They may be less efficient at removing genuine junk and mistakenly kill healthy brain cells, including synapses. Of course synapses are the connections between neurons, so if they are deleted when they shouldn’t lead to loss of connections, thinking is lost, memories are lost.”
According to the study, the disease – despite being caused by a degenerative progression – should be treated in the same way as fulminant ailments such as heart attack or stroke, in which the onset is caused by a multitude of factors and not from a single cause. In the institute they are discovered in this regard 92 genes that significantly increase the risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Giant steps that have been made only thanks to modern technologies of the contemporary era, as stated by the academic Merthyr Tydfil, nominated CBE of the study: “I learned more in the last seven years than in the previous 20.”