More than five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease.
And according to the , that number could double in the next two decades as baby boomers age and people live longer.
Despite massive research efforts, we still don鈥檛 know the root causes of the disease or how to treat it.
That鈥檚 why local researchers are looking in new directions to solve the mystery of Alzheimer鈥檚, as WKSU鈥檚 Jeff St.Clair reports in this week鈥檚 Exploradio.
is a researcher at the in Rootstown.
She began her career studying a bizarre creature called the .
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a weird story,鈥� she says.
Because the hairless rodents live in underground colonies, that, like bees, are led by a queen, and this queen does something very unusual鈥�
鈥淪he actually physically grew bigger every time she had a pregnancy, and she was an adult animal this shouldn鈥檛 be happening. Her bones were expanding. Her lumbar spine was elongating.鈥�
Crish went from studying bone growth in naked mole rats to learning how bones grow and shrink in adult humans, and this led to a little studied area of Alzheimer鈥檚 research.
鈥淲e think we鈥檙e noticing that many of our early Alzheimer鈥檚 patients have osteoporosis, or reduced bone density,鈥� says Crish
Crish says for some reason other researchers never followed up on this clue - 鈥渁nd that perplexed me. It still perplexes me.鈥�
So now she鈥檚 working to figure how bone loss is related to Alzheimer鈥檚.
Alzheimer's and the Brainstem
Crish's interest in bone loss led her to study a part of the brain not normally associated with the disease, the brainstem.
鈥淪omething in that disease process is affecting the brainstem very early on before it reaches the forebrain where all of those learning and memory structures are,鈥� says Crish.
She says the is important because that鈥檚 where most of the brain鈥檚 supply of is made.
Serotonin is known to influence a host of things from mood to digestion, but it also sets off a of signaling in the brain that helps keep bones strong.
And Crish says, when it鈥檚 disrupted by a disease like Alzheimer鈥檚, we see changes in a number of basic functions like the regulation of bone mass, mood, appetite, and blood chemistry.
Crish thinks in Alzheimer's Disease the brainstem may be affected first, "and by the time we鈥檙e in learning and memory structures it鈥檚 just too late.鈥�
Crish says the brainstem could even be the conduit for the spread of Alzheimer鈥檚 throughout the brain.
鈥淭hese cells 鈥� these groups of cells 鈥� project to just about every place in the brain and they send serotonin everywhere up there.鈥�
She thinks bone density loss should be added to the early warning signs of Alzheimer鈥檚.
She even suggests boosting the amount of serotonin in the brain as a way of slowing its progress.
Alzheimer's and Hormones
Only around 10 percent of Alzheimer鈥檚 cases can be traced to aberrant genes, according to , head of the Neurodegenerative Disease Focus Area at NEOMED.
He says in the other 90 percent of patients, 鈥渨e don鈥檛 know what causes it.鈥�
He says it鈥檚 important to try new ways to attack the problem of Alzheimer鈥檚.
鈥淲e鈥檙e dealing with this huge public health issue. We鈥檝e got an aging population, it鈥檚 going to swamp people in the next 30 years. So people are thinking outside the box, and really taking some chances.鈥�
One clue that Kent State researcher is following is that women are twice as likely to get Alzheimer鈥檚 as men.
鈥淥ne major difference between men and women," says Casadesus, is that at about the age of 50 women's production of estrogen stops, "and you鈥檙e done.鈥�
She says this sudden drop-off of a crucial hormone is bad for a woman鈥檚 brain, "your neurons are like ouch鈥︹��
That鈥檚 because estrogen provides what鈥檚 called a - sopping up free radicals and keeping nerve cells from wearing out.
But menopause delivers a one-two punch, according to Casadesus, because the steep drop in estrogen also leads to lower levels in the brain of a hormone that she believes helps stave off age-related declines.
Leaving Amyloid Beta Behind
In a newly discovered pathway, Casadesus has found that , or LH, helps build connections between neurons.
鈥淏asically what I think LH does," she says, "is it maintains the flexibility of a system that regulates learning, and memory,and cognition.鈥�
And she thinks the lower levels of LH post menopause makes the brain more vulnerable to problems like Alzheimer鈥檚.
Her work takes her far afield from the traditional targets of Alzheimer鈥檚 research, the protein known as that forms plaques on diseased neurons.
But she鈥檚 ok with that.
鈥淭he reality is that we鈥檝e been focusing on amyloid beta for 30 years and we don鈥檛 have a clear explanation yet, so perhaps we might want to look at everything else.鈥�
Casadesus envisions a time when hormone therapy may be part of Alzheimer鈥檚 prevention, but for now she says simple lifestyle choices are our best bet for avoiding the disease.
She says eat your and vegetables, keep your brain active, and get enough exercise, because...
鈥淲hat鈥檚 good for your body is good for your brain.鈥�
Researchers agree that with a disease as complicated as Alzheimer鈥檚 it鈥檚 unlikely we鈥檒l find one cause, or one cure.
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