Why in news?
Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has worked on out-of-the-box ideas that can help prevent or reduce short-term memory losses associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Details
- The Research explored new ways to prevent accumulation of neurotoxic molecules in the brain that are associated with short-term memory loss.
- The scientists found that application of a low-voltage, safe electrical field can reduce the formation and accumulation of toxic neurodegenerative molecules that cause short-term memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease.
- They found that external electric/magnetic field modulates the structure of these peptide molecules, thereby preventing aggregation.
Significance
- India has the third highest number of Alzheimer’s patients in the world, after China and US.
- In India more than four million people falling prey to the memory loss associated with it.
- Current treatments only alleviate some of the symptoms of the disease, there is no disruptive therapeutic approach yet that can treat the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s.
- This research has provided a different path that may extend the onset of the Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s Disease
- Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gradually worsens over time.
- It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia.
- The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events.
- The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is poorly understood, about 70% of the risk is believed to be inherited from a person’s parents, with many genes usually involved.
- Other risk factors include a history of head injuries, depression, and hypertension.
- No treatments stop or reverse its progression, though some may temporarily improve symptoms.
