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A team of Australian researchers
are using a non-invasive ultrasound technology to assist in removing
toxic plaque and lesions from nerve cells commonly associated with the
onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
If you are one of the many millions of
people who have witnessed the degenerative effects of Alzheimer’s
disease, then you likely know how heartbreaking it is to see a loved
one’s quality of life dissipate in what seems like an instant.
For years, scientists have worked
diligently to find a counteractive treatment for the common
neuro-degenerative disease, but mostly with no successful avail.
Thankfully, however, this might all be about to change.
A team of researchers from
the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) at the University of Queensland
have found success in reversing the processes that are commonly
associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s and other dementia-related
diseases. Their findings were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
From what we currently understand, a
person’s Alzheimer’s disease is usually the result of a build-up of two
types of lesions – amyloid plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. Amyloid plaques
sit between the neurons and end up as dense clusters of beta-amyloid
molecules, a sticky type of protein that clumps together and forms
plaques.
Neurofibrillary tangles
are found inside the neurons of the brain, and they’re caused by
defective tau proteins that clump up into a thick, insoluble mass. This
causes tiny filaments called microtubules to get all twisted, which
disrupts the transportation of essential materials such as nutrients and
organelles along them, sort of like when you twist up the vacuum
cleaner tube.
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