Alzheimer's Plaques Due to Purging Flaw

Researchers studying how individuals’ with certain gene variations are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease have discovered that the e4 version of the APOE gene significantly enhances individual chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease in their lifetime, as opposed to the e2 or e3 versions. However, less clear to the scientists was why the protein was building up. They could not understand if this variation created more harmful genes or was less effective at removing them from the brain. Through studies done on mice, researchers have concluded that individuals’ affected by the e4 gene were less efficient at removing the plaque protein, even though it was produced at the same rate as the other gene variations. This is significant because a better understanding of how this Alzheimer’s develops would enable researchers to more effectively treat the disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is currently a terminal disease. Not much is known about the disease. This is very significant because treating a disease is almost impossible if the reasons for onset of the disease are not very well understood. This better understanding is another step towards finding a cure to this debilitating disease.