Link among Alzheimer's disease, Down syndrome, atherosclerosis and diabetes

January, 2010

New evidence suggests that Down syndrome, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, all share a common disease mechanism.

It’s been suggested before that Down syndrome and Alzheimer's are connected. Similarly, there has been evidence for connections between diabetes and Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s. Now new evidence shows that all of these share a common disease mechanism. According to animal and cell-culture studies, it seems all Alzheimer's disease patients harbor some cells with three copies of chromosome 21, known as trisomy 21, instead of the usual two. Trisomy 21 is characteristic of all the cells in people with Down syndrome. By age 30 to 40, all people with Down syndrome develop the same brain pathology seen in Alzheimer's. It now appears that amyloid protein is interfering with the microtubule transport system inside cells, essentially creating holes in the roads that move everything, including chromosomes, around inside the cells. Incorrect transportation of chromosomes when cells divide produces new cells with the wrong number of chromosomes and an abnormal assortment of genes. The beta amyloid gene is on chromosome 21; thus, having three copies produces extra beta amyloid. The damage to the microtubule network also interferes with the receptor needed to pull low-density lipoprotein (LDL — the ‘bad’ cholesterol) out of circulation, thus (probably) allowing bad cholesterol to build up (note that the ‘Alzheimer’s gene’ governs the low-density lipoprotein receptor). It is also likely that insulin receptors are unable to function properly, leading to diabetes.

Reference: 

Related News

Mild cognitive impairment (

A large study using data from the famous Framingham Heart Study has compared changes in dementia onset over the last three decades. The study found that over time the age of onset has increased while the length of time spent with dementia has decreased.

Data from more than 17,000 healthy people aged 50 and over has revealed that the more regularly participants engaged with word puzzles, the better they performed on tasks assessing attention, reasoning and memory.

Unplanned hospitalizations accelerate cognitive decline in older adults

Data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project has found that emergency and urgent hospitalizations are associated with an increased rate of cognitive decline in older adults.

A Finnish study involving 338 older adults (average age 66) has found that greater muscle strength is associated with better cognitive function.

Data from over 11,500 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort has found evidence that orthostatic hypotension in middle age may increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia 20 years later.

A review of 39 studies investigating the effect of exercise on cognition in older adults (50+) confirms that physical exercise does indeed improve cognitive function in the over 50s, regardless of their cognitive status.

A Canadian study involving 40 older adults (59-81), none of whom were aware of any major memory problems, has found that those scoring below 26 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) dementia screening test also showed shrinking of the anterolateral

A study involving 35 adults with

In Australia, it has beens estimated that 9% of people aged over 65, and 30% of those aged over 85 have dementia. However, these estimates are largely based on older data from other countries, or small local samples.

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news
Error | About memory

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.