The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows

[Maurya]

Jennifer Frazer
February 7, 2019
What separates a lethal prion from dementia-inducing amyloid plaque? Maybe not much

The unsettling evidence that Alzheimer’s Disease may be transmissible under limited -- but definitely nonzero -- circumstances keeps growing.

Last December I wrote about research that revealed that infectious, lethal proteins called prions have the potential to be transmitted on optical medical equipment because they are present throughout the eyes of victims.

This was all the more disturbing in light of a study I had also recently written about that suggested that peptide aggregates – essentially sticky, self-propagating clumps of misfolded protein bits collectively referred to as amyloid -- found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients may be transmissible in the same ways that prions are.

Read more: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com...eQqU35o3HQjjFU

[Mr. Wizard]

Very informative. I have a close friend who is an opthamologist. He specializes in cornea transplants. He made me aware of prion disease, which can result from a cornea transplant. So, I get the article's point about the link between prions and eye & neural surgical procedures. The link between prions and Alzheimer's was not quite as clear to me. I've always viewed Alzheimer's as a slow, gradual decline of the brain's congnitive powers. Prion disease, on the other hand, causes the brain to degenerate fast. Dementia progresses quickly after prion infection. So, I'm not sure the two are linked.