A woman 'defied' Alzheimer's disease, the case may help find a cure

Alzheimer's Disease can significantly impact the lives of those who have it. What starts as a mild memory loss gradually develops into cognitive impairment that may make the patient unable to carry out normal conversation due to memory issues. There is a genetic link to this disease and till date, no sure shot cure has been found.

But all is not lostas scientists and medical professionals continue to study how to defeat the disease. The case of a Colombian woman has ignited new hope.

In a study, as reported by ScienceAlert, the woman has the genetic variant that is linked with Alzheimer's disease but has not exhibited cognitive decline that is associated with it. The gene variant, called APOE3 Christchurch causes late onset of Alzheimer's disease. This means the disease starts showing symptoms in later part of life of the patient.

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In the study, scientists studied mice with similar gene mutation and found similar results.

What causes Alzheimer's?

The Alzheimer's disease takes about 30 years to develop, says the report. The disease starts showing symptoms when the accumulation of a substance called amyloids crosses a critical value in the brain. This kicks off a destructive process in which proteins called tau begin affecting brain metabolism and shrink the brain tissue.

The intensity of symptoms depends on how fast the 'microglia' or the cleaning cells of the brain are able to clean up amyloid deposition.

The Colombian woman is from a family with a history of Alzheimer's. In this family, the disease is triggered by gene mutation in presenilin-1. This increases amyloid plaques in brain.

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The woman has the gene but reportedly has not shown symptoms even in her 70s.

A 2019 study carried out by Washington University School of Medicine has found that the woman has two copies of APOE3 Christchurch (APOE3ch) gene. Having one copy of the gene makes a person more likely to have the disease.

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The study has been published in journal Cell and the findings are likely to help journey towards finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

(With inputs from agencies)