Alzheimer’s Breakthrough: Brain Metals That May Drive Disease Progression Revealed

New research concerning the cause and spread of Alzheimer’s Disease has been performed and analyzed by a joint collaboration by several colleges including the University of Warwick, Keele University, the University of Florida, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. The research focuses on the consistency of iron-based substances in the brain throughout the progression of Alzheimer’s. One of the iron-based substances named magnetite was discovered by advanced microscopes to be present in Alzheimer’s patients. This element is not chemically native to the brain, so is assumed to be a bi-product of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Scientists removed plaques from the brains of diseased patients in order to perform the research. The main discoveries of the research was the presence of these iron-based substances in amyloid protein plaques within the brain. However, this allows pharmaceutical scientists to test and develop iron-modifying drugs as potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. It is proposed that the cause of the presence of iron-based substances such as magnetite in the brain may be linked to what causes the brain diseases related to dimentia, which are a serious condition in the United States. In fact, soon there will be over 1 million patients diagnosed with dementia in the United Kingdom. Further research involving Alzheimer’s Disease and correlations between iron or other non-native substances in the brain may help scientists to find new bases for developing Alzheimer’s treatments.