Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting millions of older people worldwide. It causes memory loss, confusion, and changes in behavior, making daily life difficult for both patients and their families. Scientists have been searching for a cure for many years, but so far, treatments only help manage the symptoms rather than stop the disease.
Many researchers believe that Alzheimer’s happens because of harmful proteins building up in the brain, disrupting how brain cells communicate. This theory has led to treatments that try to remove these proteins, but they have not been very successful in stopping the disease.
However, a new study suggests that the problem may start even earlier, with the way cells produce energy.
A research team from Yale-NUS College, led by scientist Jan Gruber, studied tiny worms called Caenorhabditis elegans. These worms share many biological similarities with humans, making them useful for studying diseases.
The team found that before the harmful proteins appeared in the brain, there were already problems with how the cells produced energy. This suggests that changes in metabolism might be the real cause of Alzheimer’s, rather than just a side effect of the disease.
Metabolism is the process by which the body converts food into energy. Inside our cells, tiny structures called mitochondria act like power plants, supplying energy for everything the cell needs to do.
If mitochondria stop working properly, cells struggle to function and eventually die. The researchers believe that this breakdown in metabolism could be the trigger for Alzheimer’s.
One of the most interesting findings from the study is that a common diabetes drug, Metformin, was able to fix these metabolic problems in the worms. When given the drug, the worms’ health improved, and they lived longer.
This suggests that targeting metabolism—rather than just the harmful proteins—could be a promising way to prevent or even treat Alzheimer’s disease.
This idea changes the way we think about Alzheimer’s and other diseases related to aging. Instead of seeing Alzheimer’s as a separate condition, it may be better to think of it as part of the aging process itself. If that’s true, then treatments that slow aging could also help prevent diseases like Alzheimer’s.
While these findings are exciting, there is still a long way to go before a new treatment is available. The study was done on worms, and scientists will need to test whether the same results occur in humans.
More research is needed to see if Metformin or similar drugs can help people at risk of Alzheimer’s without causing harmful side effects.
This research is an important step forward in understanding Alzheimer’s. It gives hope that, in the future, scientists may be able to develop new treatments that do more than just manage symptoms—they might actually stop the disease before it begins.
If you care about brain health, please read studies about vitamin D deficiency linked to Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, and blood pressure problem at night may increase Alzheimer’s risk.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about antioxidants that could help reduce dementia risk, and epilepsy drug may help treat Alzheimer’s disease.
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