Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative neurological disease that greatly affects a patient's cognitive abilities. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) notes that early Alzheimer's disease is often confused with the aging process, with symptoms such as repeating statements, misplacing items, trouble finding names for familiar objects, getting lost on regularly taken routes, personality changes, loss of interest, and difficulties performing tasks. Women, according to the NIH, have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
One of the devastating factors of Alzheimer's disease is that it is not a curable disease; while certain medications can be used to slow down the progression, no treatment is currently available to reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease. However, new research by University of California Irvine, as reported by Science Daily, is using stem cells to bring new hope to Alzheimer's disease patients and their families.
Some organizations are skeptical about the effects stem cells have on Alzheimer's disease, such as the Alzheimer's Association. In a statement released June 2004, the board of directors stated that “while newly implanted cells may be able to process and create new memories, they would not have the extensive network of connections built up over a lifetime by older cells nor would they retain previously stored memories.”
In the research done by the University of California Irvine, genetically engineered mice with Alzheimer's disease were injected with neural stem cells in the brain. As a result, the mice did better on memory tests after the injection. However, contrary to the original hypothesis, only six percent of the neural stem cells became neurons; the other 94 percent became astrocytes and oligodendrocytes—two types of glial cells. Researchers found that the neural stem cells did not work by reducing the number of plagues and tangles, or improving cognition through the new creation of neurons. Instead, the neural stem cells secreted a certain protein: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF strengthens the number of connections between neurons. Researchers also used a direct injection of BDNF; while there was still a benefit, it was not as great as when neural stem cells were injected. While the research is still in the animal-testing phase, it does hold promise for human Alzheimer's disease patients.
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Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch received her bachelor’s of science degree in neuroscience from Trinity College in Hartford, CT in May 2009. She is the Hartford Women's Health Examiner and she writes about abuse on Suite 101.