Freeing brain of toxins
Research to free the brain of toxins may be the key to reversing the incidence of dementia in Australians. The neurological disease affects 300,000 Australians, and will reportedly affect 900,000 by 2050.
Research to free the brain of toxins may be the key to reversing the incidence of dementia in Australians.
The neurological disease affects 300,000 Australians, and will reportedly affect 900,000 by 2050.
Melbourne’s Monash University’s Joseph Nicolazzo was recently awarded $281,500 from the National Health and Medical Research Council to examine a series of pumps on the blood brain barrier that get ‘lazy’ in Alzheimer’s patients.
It is believed this decreased pump action traps a build up of the toxic protein amyloid in the brain, killing nerve cells.
“It’s generally believed that approaches that can decrease amyloid have the potential to reverse the dementia,” Dr Nicolazzo tells AAP.
He adds most research into Alzheimer’s looks at stopping the production of amyloid. Dr Nicolazzo is now collaborating with the University of Washington to determine how to get those pumps working again, safely kicking the toxin out of brain tissue and into circulating blood, as in healthy bodies.
“It’s a different approach. Everyone’s so focused in on the brain. We’re looking on the outskirts … the door to the brain,” Dr Nicolazzo says.
“If the door is dysfunctional, then things are going to get stuck in the room that shouldn’t be there.”
According to Dr Nicolazzo, during the disease you can get up to a 70% drop in the levels of these pumps and researchers have been able to double the levels of these pumps with these treatments.
Research will then look at the memories of mice to see if they improved as pumps worked harder.
The grant is one of 92 totalling $50 million awarded by Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, to investigate age related diseases.
