Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. It affects millions of older people around the world and causes serious memory loss, confusion, and changes in behavior.
These symptoms make everyday life very hard for both patients and their families. Scientists have been trying to find a cure for many years. So far, current treatments can only help ease symptoms but do not stop the disease itself.
Many scientists believe that Alzheimer’s is caused by harmful proteins building up in the brain. These proteins can block the way brain cells talk to each other. Based on this idea, researchers have created treatments that try to remove these harmful proteins. But these treatments have not been very successful in stopping or slowing down the disease.
Now, a new study offers a different idea. A team of scientists from Yale-NUS College, led by Jan Gruber, looked at a tiny worm called Caenorhabditis elegans. These worms are often used in science because they have many biological features that are similar to humans.
The researchers found that long before the harmful proteins appeared in the worms’ brains, there were already problems in how the cells made energy. This means the disease might actually begin with changes in metabolism—the process that cells use to turn food into energy—rather than with protein buildup.
Inside each cell, there are small structures called mitochondria. These work like power plants to give the cell energy. If mitochondria do not work well, the cells can get sick and die. The scientists think this problem with energy production could be the real trigger for Alzheimer’s.
One exciting part of the study was the discovery that a common drug called Metformin was able to fix the energy problems in the worms. Metformin is usually used to treat diabetes, but when it was given to the worms, their health got better and they lived longer.
This finding suggests that focusing on fixing metabolism might be a better way to prevent or treat Alzheimer’s. It gives scientists a new way to think about the disease.
Instead of treating Alzheimer’s as a separate illness, it might be more accurate to see it as something that happens naturally as we age. If that is true, then medicines that slow down aging—like Metformin—might also protect people from getting Alzheimer’s.
Even though this research is very hopeful, it is still early. The study was only done on worms, not people. Scientists will need to test Metformin in humans to see if it can really help without causing any serious side effects.
Still, this study is an important step. It gives researchers a new direction to explore and brings hope that one day we might be able to stop Alzheimer’s before it even begins.
If you care about Alzheimer’s disease, please read studies about vitamin D deficiency linked to Alzheimer’s and dementia, and strawberries can be good defence against Alzheimer’s.
For more health information, please see recent studies about foods that reduce Alzheimer’s risk, and oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms.
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