alzheimers news-will downs syndrome patients give us an answer

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WILL DOWNS SYNDROME PATIENTS GIVE US AN ANSWER

the app or amyloid precursor protein starts the ball rolling in alzheimers disease
it leads to the deposition of abeta amyloid in the brain
the start of alzheimers starts when this deposition starts then later the tau protein does its damage
when
we arent sure
why
we arent sure
how to stop it
we arent sure

a patient with downs syndrome has an extra chromosome 21
thus its also called trisomy 21
on the 21st chromosome is the gene for the app protein the parent protein that starts the abeta amyloid deposition in the brain that starts this alzheimers disease ball rolling

thus downs syndrome patients have an extra gene to help make the amyloid protein that gets deposited in their brains

10% of the general population over 65 have alzheimers
the downs syndrome patient starts deposition on day one of their life
it gradually worsens so if they reach 40 then 30 % of them have alzheimers
if they reach 60 then it jumps to over 50% of them will have alzheimers
it use to be before modern medicine helped them they didnt live that long
now they do

so
they the downs syndrome patient may help us find a cure or treatment for alzheimers disease

you have a population that starts to accumulate amyloid the day they are born
the chances of other causes of dementia being involved isnt as great as the general population
you have a population that you know will likely probably get alzheimers and can start treatment at a much earlier age say eg 25
the group all have the same genetic make up that is causing the disease

now they are starting a study in patients with downs syndrome using an antibody against the abeta amyloid protein hoping that it will slow down the disease before it takes off in the brain
it will probably be given before symptoms start

if it works or helps it will benefit the rest of the millions of us that may be affected by alzheimers disease

so this usually gentle happy friendly lovable population my be the group that finds the treatment or cure for the disease that is expected to break our health care system financially one day
and
the disease that is so devastating for those affected by the disease

who would have thought that they would be the ones to help the rest of us

the organicgreen doctor