Cause of Alzheimer’s Disease Discovered

Has the cause of alzheimer’s disease been found?  Researchers in Montreal at the Jewish General Hospital feel they have found the cause of alzheimer’s in an enzyme called Caspase 6.

Led by Dr. Andrea LeBlanc, the reasearch team has isolated this enzyme which they believe is the cause of alzheimer’s disease and if this is indeed the cause, this discovery may lead to new treatments for the brain disease.

A majority of the theories around Alzheimer’s disease research focus on the premise that amyloid beta is the fundamental cause of the disease  It is thought amyloid beta forms what is known as “senile plaques” on the brains of those people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

This new research treats these amyloid plaques is the effect of Alzheimer’s disease and not the cause.  LeBlanc’s research focuses on the presence of the Caspase 6 enzyme and indicates this enzyme results in the onset of Alzheimer’s.

According to the research conducted, the presence of the Caspase 6 enzyme is the area of the brain that is affected by Alzheimer’s disease.  People who have a high level of this enzyme developed the brain disease and those with virtually none of the enzyme did not have Alzheimer’s disease.

People who were not diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease but did show memory loss were also shown to have a high level of the Caspase 6 enzyme.

LeBlanc stated the enzyme could ultimately being neutralized and indicated “Estrogen will induce an inhibitor in Caspase-6 in human neurons.  We have isolated the gene and no one knows about it except us.”

Is this the potential cause of Alzheimer’s disease?  whether this may pinpoint the exact cause of the brain disease will be seen.  It is however, a considerable development in Alzheimer’s disease and may ultimately lead to better treatment alternatives for Alzheimer’s.

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