December 2012

Australian scientists along with US experts claimed that they are a step closer to create a treatment for Alzheimer patients following a study finding a link to abnormalities inside brain cells. In a joint study, researchers at Queensland Brain Institute and Harvard medical School team found that when a toxic protein builds up, it starves brain cells of energy, causing them to die. According to ABC online report, in the study of over three years, scientists tried to unveil the mystery surrounding Alzheimer’s disease and a section of the brain cell called the mitochondria, the part responsible for metabolising energy, was analysed. This is the first study to directly link toxic levels of Tau, a protein in the brain that is related to dementia, to abnormalities in the mitochondria, which starves them of energy and destroys brain cells. Researchers claimed that the latest development was a promising step towards developing an effective treatment for sufferers.

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