Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have made an important discovery about Alzheimer’s disease.
Their new study, published in JAMA Network Open, suggests that brain inflammation—not just the well-known amyloid and tau proteins—might be the main cause of mood and behavior symptoms in people with Alzheimer’s.
People with Alzheimer’s often suffer from symptoms like irritability, agitation, anxiety, and depression. These symptoms are difficult to treat and place a heavy emotional load on caregivers.
According to Dr. Cristiano Aguzzoli, who led the study, these problems don’t always have a clear cause, which makes treatment even harder.
Earlier in 2023, the same research team pointed to brain inflammation as a key factor in Alzheimer’s disease. Their earlier work showed that brain inflammation, known as neuroinflammation, plays a major role in how Alzheimer’s develops.
Now, with this new study, they have found stronger proof that brain inflammation is directly linked to these hard-to-manage mood symptoms.
The researchers studied 109 older adults. Most of these people didn’t have memory problems, but their brains had the amyloid and tau proteins that are linked to Alzheimer’s.
Using brain scans and medical checkups, the scientists looked for signs of inflammation in the brain. They measured something called microglial activation, which is a sign of inflammation.
They found that higher levels of brain inflammation were connected to more serious mood and behavior symptoms. These included things like sleep problems, agitation, and mood swings. Caregivers often noticed these emotional changes, especially the fast shifts in mood, and these matched up with the brain scan results showing more inflammation.
This new discovery could lead to better treatment options. If future treatments can reduce inflammation in the brain, they might also reduce these mood and behavior problems. This would not only help patients but also make things easier for their caregivers.
The team, led by Dr. Tharick Pascoal, says this research could help people with other forms of dementia too. Diseases like Parkinson’s dementia also show signs of brain inflammation and similar mood symptoms. The researchers want to work with experts around the world to test their findings on other brain diseases.
This study opens the door to new kinds of treatment that focus on lowering inflammation in the brain. If successful, these treatments could improve life for many people with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about the likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease , and new non-drug treatment that could help prevent Alzheimer’s.
For more health information, please see recent studies about diet that may help prevent Alzheimer’s, and results showing some dementia cases could be prevented by changing these 12 things.
