Protein changes identified in early-onset Alzheimer's

摘要

With a lack of effective treatments for Alzheimer's, most of us would think long and hard about whether we wanted to know years in advance if we were genetically predisposed to develop the disease. For researchers, however, such knowledge is a window into Alzheimer's disease's evolution.Understanding the biological changes that occur during the clinically "silent" stage - the years before symptoms appear - provides clues about the causes of the disease and may offer potential targets for drugs that will stop it from progressing.In a new study, researchers at UCLA have identified chemical changes taking place in the brains of people destined to develop familial Alzheimer's disease at least 10 years before symptoms or diagnoses occur.