Stress and Alzheimer’s Disease

A recent study discovered that there might be an important link between chronic stress and Alzheimer’s disease. The study indicated that those under constant stress spawned insoluble tau proteins in their brain. This protein is one of the suspected causes of Alzheimer’s, thus establishing a clear link between people who are constantly stressed out and their likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s.

Neurofibrillary tangles-a protein deposit-are one of the most recognizable indicators that someone has Alzheimer’s disease. This, the researchers are saying, is why there has always been a link between stress and sporadic Alzheimer’s. Now that it’s known that stress can actually spawn these protein structures in the brain, steps need to be taken to figure out how to fight this stress-induced problem. Alzheimer’s disease affects about 25 million people around the world, and now that one of the possible causes of this disease is better understood, the next logical step is to figure out how to prevent it.

The study looked at lab mice and found that when they were exposed to emotional stress, their likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s increased. The stress spawned the insoluble proteins and this in turn leads to the neurofibrillary tangles mainly found in the brain’s hippocampus that so accurately diagnose Alzheimer’s.

There are a lot of advances that have been made in Alzheimer’s and dementia research lately. This is just another important step toward finding an effective way of preventing and treating this awful disease. Now that one of the causes of Alzheimer’s is known, researchers should move in the direction of learning how to prevent this from happening. Stress, of course, is unavoidable in many situations and as a result will never be able to be eliminated, but the results of that stress-the protein deposits-might be able to be avoided. This would be a huge step forward in treating this disease. Responding to the results of stress is the most logical way of approaching this information.

The interesting thing about this study was that they found that not all stresses and stressors are created equal. Acute stress, the kind that is severe and harsh but doesn’t last for very long, has little to no bearing on the development of the detrimental proteins. These transient stressors are actually beneficial to the brain, researchers believe, since it increases cellular plasticity. It’s chronic and repeated stress that has the biggest negative impact upon the brain. The constant wearing and tearing of stress pathways is what leads to these protein deposits within the hippocampus. And it is the results of this constant stress that is the likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease. By figuring out how to eliminate these insoluble tau proteins, doctors will be taking a huge step toward the fight against Alzheimer’s.