Onset of the dreaded Alzheimer's disease which becomes apparent in a patient's 60's or 70's is due to midlife breakdown of myelin, a fatty insulation coating of the brain's internal wiring say UCLA neuroscientists.
A model identifying this process has been reported in Neurobiology of Aging. As the brain develops, cholesterol levels increase. This promotes production of a toxic protein that attacks myelin. This eventually leads to the brain-destroying tangles visible years later in Alzheimer's patients. Increasing iron levels in the middle age also degrade myelin. Intake of cholesterol and iron-lowering and anti-inflammatory medications may prevent the disease.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, January 1, 2004.
Grateful thanks to The Hindu.
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