Signs of Alzheimer's disease seen in 5 people in the UK who received growth hormonea drug no longer used today, in their lives and who have now developed progressive cognitive disorders compatible with the neurodegenerative disease. This is highlighted by a study published in 'Nature Medicine' carried out by University College London. The researchers point out that the study “is based on a limited number of people and the medical practices in question – growth hormone – are no longer used” and therefore the work “it does not suggest that forms of dementia such as Alzheimer's disease may be contagious“. Indeed the results support a controversial hypothesis “i.e. that proteins linked to Alzheimer's can be 'seeded' in the brain through material taken from cadavers, in fact the hormone under accusation was extracted from the pituitary glands of deceased individuals”, we read in the research.
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In a 2018 study, the team of researchers found that the hormone preparation under investigation contained beta-amyloid proteins and, when the preparation was injected into mice, it led to the development of amyloid plaques and caused cerebral amyloid angiopathy in the animals. This led the team to wonder whether the 'contaminated' hormone preparations could also have led to the people who received them developing Alzheimer's disease, in which amyloid plaques in brain tissue are thought to cause the loss of neurons and brain tissue. In this latest study, researchers found that 5 out of 8 people who received hormone treatment in childhood developed signs of early-onset dementia later in life, between the ages of 38 and 55. “Two died during the study. Of the remaining three people, one had symptoms of mild cognitive impairment, another had possible symptoms of neurodegeneration, and one showed no behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer's,” the research states.
“Today From a public health perspective there is no need to worry about 'transmissible' dementia because this hormone treatment no longer exists“, the researchers clarify, but they hope that “many other scientists will now look for further evidence to explore the 'transmissible Alzheimer's' hypothesis”.
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