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Researchers have identified four types of dementia and what they do to us
Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia, but it is not the only one.
Researchers have now divided the disease into 4 different categories, each of which affects the brain in a different way.
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dementia
Alzheimer's
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Tuesday, 04 May 2021, 09:44
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Dementia has become a real threat to many in the world in recent decades, and its prevalence is rising because of the increase in population age.
To date no cure has been found for the disease and many studies are trying to find its causes as well as try to find effective treatments.
It is currently estimated that distorted tau proteins are closely related to the development and progression of dementia, but researchers have so far believed that the tau entanglement pattern in the brain is more or less the same in all sufferers of the disease.
Now a new study has identified that there are four patterns of the disease, and each of them affects the brain differently.
"We identified four clear patterns of Tao pathology that became clear over time," says neurologist Oscar Hanson of Lund University in Sweden.
"The prevalence of the subgroups ranges from 18 to 30 percent, meaning that all of these versions of Alzheimer's are actually quite common and none of them have controlled as we previously thought."
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To the full article
Using algorithms applied to brain scans of 1,143 people with a healthy or Alzheimer’s-affected brain, scientists have identified four different ways in which tau proteins become entangled in and affect neurons in the brain.
The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine.
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What exactly is the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia?
According to the World Health Organization, more than 36 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, most of them with Alzheimer's.
The figure is expected to double by 2030, if no effective treatment is found.
An estimated 130,000 Alzheimer's patients live in Israel.
Similar to other diseases, Alzheimer's begins in
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The first version, which was detected in 33 percent of cases, showed that tau proteins spread mainly in the temporal lobe and affect the patient's memory.
The second, found in 18 percent of cases, spreads to the other parts of the cerebral cortex - which is less pronounced in memory problems, but makes difficulties in planning and performing operations more common.
The third variation, found in 30 percent of all cases, is when tau proteins spread in the visual cortex (an area of the brain responsible for visual processing) - patients have difficulty orienting, estimating distances and recognizing shapes.
The fourth and final version, seen in 19 percent of cases, spreads asymmetrically in the left half of the brain and affects language processing.
Brain damage is not uniform in all patients.
Gif of the brain (Photo: Giphy)
The findings were made possible by detailed tomography scans of three-dimensional positron emission (PET).
Follow-up surgery over two years has confirmed the existence of these four distinct patterns in people with Alzheimer’s, and can help explain why different people show different symptoms as the disease progresses.
"This suggests that Alzheimer's is an even more heterogeneous disease than previously thought," says neuroscientist Jacob Vogel of McGill University in Canada.
"We now have reason to re-evaluate the concept of 'typical Alzheimer's', and in the long run also the methods we use to measure disease progression."
The number of patients will double
According to the World Health Organization, more than 36 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, most of them with Alzheimer's.
The figure is expected to double by 2030, if no effective treatment is found.
An estimated 130,000 Alzheimer's patients live in Israel.
Like other degenerative diseases, Alzheimer's begins years and even decades before the symptoms of the disease appear.
Therefore, understanding the factors that can be avoided and the actions we can take to reduce the risk of developing the disease, and also splitting the disease into subtypes is crucial.
The next step is to extend the surgery over a longer period of up to 10 years, the researchers suggest.
Knowing which subtype exists in a patient can, for example, give a better idea of what symptoms he is likely to experience and when, as well as open up possibilities for new treatments.
"This knowledge is important for physicians examining patients with Alzheimer's, and it also makes us wonder if the four subtypes might respond differently to different treatments," Hanson said.
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