Is it possible to catch Alzheimer's disease?

Tomography of a patient with Alzheimer's disease

At first glance, a very strange question - after all, Alzheimer's disease is not a flu virus that can be infected. What is this disease? Alzgeimer's disease (also senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type) is the most common form of dementia, a neurodegenerative disease. As a rule, it is found in people over 65, but there is also early Alzheimer's disease - a rare form of the disease. Typically, the disease begins with subtle symptoms, but progresses over time. Most often, in the early stages, a short-term memory disorder is recognized, for example, the inability to recall recently learned information. With the development of the disease, there is a loss of long-term memory, there are impaired speech and cognitive functions, the patient loses the ability to navigate the environment and take care of themselves. The gradual loss of body functions leads to death.

Experts do not yet have a common opinion about what is causing the disease. But there is an opinion that the disease manifests itself as a result of a combination of several factors, including genetics, the environment and peculiarities of a person’s lifestyle. But now, it seems, scientists have discovered a new reason - a group of "contagious" prion proteins. Research results have already been published in Nature.

Prions are proteins that can be found in the human body without causing any problems. But in some cases, prions can cause disease. The problem is that prions can be the cause of the disease, being incorrectly folded (see folding ). After that, the protein ceases to function normally, and spreads through the human brain. Prions can be formed independently, or transferred from the body to the body. They can even be transmitted through food (this is the way the mad cow disease is spreading). It is already known that prions can cause certain diseases in humans (including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). Perhaps prions can be the cause of Alzheimer's disease, and the disease in this case is transmitted from person to person.
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So far, the research results require serious testing, but scientists have checked the history of the disease of eight patients who died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease aged 36-51 years. These patients in childhood were exposed to a medical procedure that, as it turned out, transfers prions from person to person. In the brain of patients, beta-amyloid protein was detected, which, according to scientists, is one of the causes of the onset and development of Alzheimer's disease. Four patients showed pathology similar to Alzheimer's.

So far, researchers can not make a clear picture of the influence of prions and beta-amyloid on the human body. But scientists believe that certain types of operations or blood transfusions can cause the transfer of prions from person to person, which increases the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease. There is no evidence so far, and it is difficult to call the study with 8 patients involved large-scale and objective. But research on the effects of prions on the human body and the possibility of their transfer from person to person continues.