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Hibernation Protein May Halt Alzheimer's
BarbaraHudson writes The BBC is reporting that tests show a protein called RBM3, involved in hibernation, may hold the key to regenerating synapses. In the early stages of Alzheimer's, and other neurodegenerative disorders, synapses are lost. This inevitably progresses to whole brain cells dying. But during hibernation, 20-30% of the connections in the brain — synapses — are culled as the body preserves resources over winter, and are reformed in the spring, with no loss of memory. Memories can be restored after hibernation as only the receiving end of the synapse shuts down. In a further set of tests, the team showed the brain cell deaths from prion disease and Alzheimer's could be prevented by artificially boosting RBM3 levels. Prof Mallucci was asked if memories could be restored in people if their synapses could be restored: "Absolutely, because a lot of memory decline is correlated with synapse loss, which is the early stage of dementia, so you might get back some of the synapse you've lost."
Further reading: here, here, and here"
Further reading: here, here, and here"
They may be up to 30% out of their mind.
Because Alzheimer's doesn't cause "retardation".
Obviously I couldn't put everything in the summary (I provided 4 links) A few points: First, the same protection was observed with higher levels or RBM3 in mice that didn't undergo induced hibernation as with those who underwent induced hibernation:
In the grand finale set of experiments, the researchers bypassed cooling and injected lentiviruses expressing RBM3 directly into the hippocampi of mice early in prion disease. They achieved a threefold overexpression of RBM3 that afforded the mice the same synaptic, behavioral, and survival benefits that early cooling had, and rescued flagging protein synthesis observed in neurons nine weeks post-infection. Boosting RBM3 expression also allowed synapses in both neurodegenerative disease models to recover completely after cooling. Conversely, knocking down expression of RBM3 accelerated disease progression in the prion model, and hastened synapse loss in both models. Synapses and memory even took a hit in normal mice deprived of RBM3 expression, as they lost synapses and did not recognize novel objects as well as control mice. This suggested that the cold-shock protein may play an important physiological role in normal synapse upkeep.
Mallucci hypothesized that RBM3 promotes synaptic plasticity and staves off neurodegeneration by raising levels of protein synthesis in dendrites. “Synapses are so dependent on their key synaptic proteins for assembly and function,” said Mallucci. Because synapses often reside distant from the cell body, local translation at the dendrite is important to ensure a ready supply of such proteins and thus facilitate synaptic recovery, she added.
So we know that RBM3 protects regardless of whether it was produced by hibernation or artificial elevation of just the protein RBM3.
Second we already know cooling of the brain in humans is also protective:
A state of hypothermia is known to protect the brain. People have been survived for hours after a cardiac arrest without brain damage after falling into icy water. Similiarly, cooling the brains of babies that have suffered a loss of oxygen at birth is also used to protect against brain damage.
"We’ve known for some time that cooling can slow down or even prevent damage to brain cells, but reducing body temperature is rarely feasible in practice: it’s unpleasant and involves risks such as pneumonia and blood clots," said Professor Giovanna Mallucci, who led the research team, at the Medical Research Councils Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester. "But, by identifying how cooling activates a process that prevents the loss of brain cells, we can now work towards finding a means to develop drugs that might mimic the protective effects of cold on the brain."
So there is reason to think that the same mechanism might work in other mammals, and not just those who hibernate. We'll only know when human trials commence, but considering what's at stake, there will be literally millions volunteering to be test subjects.
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If only that were true - then we could just find ways to get them interest in life again. However, dementia affects people in their 30s and 40s, not just "old people" who have stopped working or have grandkids. Also, we don't know what the human brain's memory capacity is, but we know we're far from "filling it up" at 30, and probably at 100 as well. Just the disease interferes with the replacement of dead synapses, so you lose memory capacity as well as the memories themselves.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
My wife works with people that have Alzheimer's and dementia. What a terrible way to go.
It's one of the reasons we legalized assisted suicide here (and probably elsewhere in the world). Nobody wants to end up that way. Maybe this will be a second option.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Memories are, indeed, tagged with an importance value — the value is represented in the brain as a feeling/emotion. This modulates the strength of the long term encoding of the memory. But unimportant memories don't get "cycled out" as you say. Memories are not stored independently of each other and room for new ones recovered by some mechanism that frees up storage space. Forgetting is caused by a combination of interference from the storage of new memories and decay (two processes proposed independently but with evidence for both). This very much makes sense when considering that memories are stored through synaptic plasticity in the same neural network, which, upon triggering by the right stimulus for recall, recreates an activation pattern in other parts of the brain, including the consciously accessible image-making ones (one proposal for how the latter is accomplished, with some neurological evidence for it, is http://www.cell.com/trends/neu... ).
"Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
"Disease" is an unfortunate label because it implies a pathogen and there is none for Alzheimers. The term "Alzheimers" is simply a convenient catch-all term for a class of symptoms. One reason memory doesn't "fill up" is that unimportant memories are routinely deleted. Most of us don't remember the names of all of our Grade 1 classmates, for example. So the best place to look for causes is whatever is considered important for the sufferer. For (most) women the most important connection in life is children and grandchildren. Yet we push the elderly off into isolation and offer them daytime TV as a substitute. For them, it's isolation from family that causes their descent. To assume that this situation can be addressed with a wonder drug is incredibly foolish... I read of a young missionary girl who went off to Africa to teach children. After introductions she asked if anyone had any questions. One girl asked, "Is it true that in your country you send old people off to live alone?"
I think you have cause and effect reversed - mostly people (of all ages) are put in homes because they already require 24-hour supervision and care. If they can't get dressed, go to the bathroom, make their own food, know approximately what time of day, day of the week, and month of the year, and they show increasing bouts of rage, they're a danger to both themselves and those around them. Try taking care of someone and having them accuse you of all sorts of ridiculous stuff, like stealing stuff that a quick search shows they misplaced, or taking a harmless remark or action and twisting it around when they retell it to the whole family. Taking care of someone by yourself under those conditions is hazardous just from a legal perspective.
Also, I would question whether "unimportant memories are routinely deleted." How many times have you forgotten things like passwords, birthdays, where you left your smartphone, wallet, purse, or keys, your own phone number, and yet can clearly recall the punchline of really stupid jokes?
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
In this case pronouncing the word "disease" is a slack way of dismissing the symptoms of dementia without any futher (sic) thought.
Most people who call dementia a disease do not dismiss the symptoms, especially considering the huge impact those symptoms have on both the patient and those around them.
Also, when you wrote "One girl asked, "Is it true that in your country you send old people off to live alone?", you didn't take into account that the average lifespan in many parts of Africa the life expectancy is below 50, and in some parts (Sierra Leone) it's below 40. The average - a puny 52 years. So when that little girl asked her question, she wasn't referring to "old people", but middle-aged people at best. She probably hasn't even seen an old person with dementia.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Very emotional post. Sorry to bring logic into it. Care homes cost a lot of money. $3 - 5 k a month isn't unusual for basic nursing care. If I wanted my relatives money, the very last thing I would do is put them in a home, where they might live another 5 years and burn through every dime they have.
i hope not. i can't imagine anybody choosing suicide over this. (IF this ever moves beyond the usual "lab rats regain memory" stage)
I've already told everyone that if that happens, take me "out behind the barn and shoot me, and donate my body to science." What makes me me is my mind, not my arms, legs, heart, liver, or kidneys. When that's gone, the rest is just meat anyway, so might as well not consume further resources, and put people through the hassle of feeling guilty because they didn't visit "me" (even though nobody's home any more) often enough.I do NOT want to put that burden on my kids.
I keep my dogs until they can no longer live a quality life, then I take them to the vet and stay with them while they're killed. Doing otherwise (keeping a dog when it's terminally ill and suffering) would probably (and rightfully) get me investigated for cruelty. I think people have at least as much of a right to a life with some quality of life, and when that's no longer possible, help them end it. Apparently so do enough others to convince lawmakers to pass right to die legislation.
So hopefully this research will pay off and it won't come to that, but if it does, I'm going to pull the plug while I still can.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.