Alzheimer’s disease has generally been thought to be caused internally, but for the first time, researchers have identified a case in which a specific treatment triggered the disease.
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia, is caused by a buildup of amyloid proteins in the brain and is associated with risk factors such as age, family history, unhealthy lifestyle habits, and certain medical conditions.
However, in a study published in Nature Medicine, researchers at University College London (UCL) have linked growth hormone treatment to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a UCL press release.
Researchers studied patients who were given a type of human growth hormone (c-hGH) extracted from the pituitary glands of deceased people.
c-hGH has been shown to cause greater amounts of amyloid beta protein in the brain, researchers found.
Of the eight people in the study who were treated with c-hGH during childhood, five developed symptoms of dementia and were either already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or met criteria for Alzheimer’s disease.
They were all between the ages of 38 and 55 when they started experiencing symptoms of cognitive decline, according to the paper. Genetic testing confirmed that the initial disease was not inherited.
“We now find that amyloid-beta pathology is contagious and may contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease,” lead author Dr Gargi Banerjee, a research fellow at the UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, said in a press release.
“This infection occurred after treatment with growth hormone, which is now obsolete, and repeated treatments with contaminated material, often over several years,” he continued.
Researchers emphasized that Alzheimer’s disease is not transmitted through person-to-person contact.
“There is no suggestion that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted between individuals during activities of daily living or routine medical procedures,” said the study’s lead author and director of the UCL Prion Disease Research Institute. Professor John Collinge, a consultant neurologist in the US, said: UCLH, in release.
“The patients we reported were receiving a long-discontinued specialized treatment in which patients were injected with substances that are now known to be contaminated with disease-related proteins,” he said. added.
The type of growth hormone therapy named in this study was discontinued in 1985 after it was found to cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in some people.
CJD is a degenerative brain disorder that causes dementia and death.
The findings should be used to prevent future “accidental infections from other medical or surgical procedures,” Collinge said.
Fox News Digital has contacted the UCL team for further comment.
Dr. Rehan Aziz, a geriatric psychiatrist at Jersey Shore University Medical Center who was not involved in the study, said the paper provides potential evidence for a “very rare but contagious form” of Alzheimer’s disease. admitted that it was shown.
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“This study describes only five Alzheimer’s patients out of more than 1,800 known to have received growth hormone in this way,” Aziz noted.
“Remarkably, all of the patients developed Alzheimer’s disease at a young age, but some of them had complex medical histories that may have been a contributing factor. ”
The unusually young age at which these patients developed symptoms suggests that they do not have the usual Alzheimer’s disease associated with aging, Aziz said.
“This study raises the question of whether beta-amyloid protein can multiply on its own, leading to cascading memory loss and worsening of Alzheimer’s disease,” he added.
Dr. Christopher Weber, director of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Global Science Initiative, who was not involved in the UNC study, also reiterated that Alzheimer’s disease is not contagious.
“Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease won’t give you Alzheimer’s disease,” he told Fox News Digital. “Alzheimer’s disease is not transmitted through the air or by touching or being near someone with Alzheimer’s disease.”
In analyzing the study, Weber noticed several limitations.
“Based on the small number of cases studied, the authors propose the idea of a “rare acquired” Alzheimer’s disease. “This is the third explanation,” he said.
“However, the study population (eight people in this paper) is very small and these are the only ones known in the literature. So while this possibility of a third type of Alzheimer’s disease is a novel idea, Replication and confirmation are needed to increase reliability.”
Professor Weber pointed out that the possibility of causing abnormal amyloid accumulation is not new and has been demonstrated by injections into the brains of animals.
“We can also transfer the human Alzheimer’s disease gene into animals, causing abnormal Alzheimer’s-like processes in the animal’s brain, which do not occur in daily life or in routine medical procedures. “Yes,” he said. “Those are unusual events.”
Although the type of amyloid beta transmission identified in the UNC study is rare, Weber said, “the scientific and clinical communities need to understand the possible risks and ensure that all methods of pathogen transmission are eliminated.” He emphasized.
One of these methods, Weber said, is “complete and conscientious sterilization of surgical instruments,” which is common practice today.
“Bottom line: We shouldn’t put amyloid beta into people’s brains, either by accident or on purpose,” he said. “And we should take appropriate steps to prevent that from happening.”
