To provoke Alzheimer's can fungi
Last reviewed: 28.11.2021
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A team of scientists from Spain identified in the brain of people suffering from Alzheimer's fungus, which led to the assumption that this disease can be of an infectious nature.
In the Spanish State University researchers in the vessels and gray matter of patients were found mold and yeast, which were not found in patients without this pathology. According to experts, Alzheimer's symptoms fully correspond to fungal infection, and fungi, in turn, can be provoking factors of neurodegenerative disorders in the brain.
Recently, scientists from Britain also suggested that Alzheimer's is not due to the aging of the body or the mutation of genes, but can be transmitted during surgical interventions, blood transfusions, or during dental treatment.
Spanish researchers studied the bodies of the dead, who during life suffered from Alzheimer's, and found in their brain several types of fungi. This is what scientists suppose. It causes various symptoms in different patients, as well as the slow development and participation of immunity. Also the infectious nature of Alzheimer's can explain why all the developed drugs against this ailment were ineffective. Researchers believe that antifungal drugs can help people suffering from this disease.
But experts have a lot of work to do before the causal relationship is established with the development of Alzheimer's and the appearance of a fungus in the brain tissues (at the moment there is no evidence that it is fungi that provoke neurodegenerative disorders). Scientists noted that it is possible that the fungus can appear against the background of the progression of the disease, and is a consequence, not the cause of the disease.
A number of experts noted that Alzheimer's brain barrier is reducing and various infections, including fungi, can easily penetrate the brain.
In another study group, the development of Alzheimer's was associated with viruses and bacteria, in particular, provoking herpes and pneumonia. But to date, the cause of pathology is the deposition of protein in the brain, which violates neural connections.
While scientists are trying to find out the cause of Alzheimer's development in order to create effective drugs against this disease, at a university in Southern California, a team of scientists developed a small prosthesis that would help with memory disorders.
A small device is a set of electrodes and is transplanted into the brain. The test phase with the animals was successful, and the scientists plan to conduct an experiment involving volunteers.
In Alzheimer's people, the hippocampus is damaged and they do not remember recent events, but they remember the past well. Prosthesis allows you to deliver information to the area of long-term memory, bypassing the damaged area, i.e. Helps to restore the process of creating long-term memories and significantly improve the quality of life of patients with Alzheimer's.