3/2/20 Causes & Contributors to Dementia

This will be an ongoing list of things that current science says contributes to, causes, could mimic Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia. It seems that every day they're coming up with potential causes.

Mold
Lyme Disease
Gingivitis
Age
Infections
Inflammation
Nutrition
Mini-strokes
Diabetes
Obesity
Lead
Toxins in the environment
Genes (esp APOE4 but there are others that have an impact) 

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Stories, links, research, etc. The underlined dates at the top of each section are the days I posted the stories, articles, that are underneath.

3/2/20

Obesity Linked to Premature Aging and Alzheimer’s in New StudyObesity continues to be a growing worldwide public health problem, with up to 1.9 billion adults globally considered to be overweight or obese. And it’s not just obesity that’s the issue — it’s all of the chronic diseases it’s linked to, including type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s...
https://www.beingpatient.com/obesity-premature-aging-alzheimers/

2/24/20

Study: Belly fat increases brain inflammation, risk for Alzheimer’s...Carrying around a lot of belly fat, known as visceral fat, has already been shown in other studies to increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, said Dr. Alexis Stranahan, an associate professor of neuroscience and regenerative medicine at AU. One rather eye-opening study “showed that individuals that carried a lot of belly fat in middle age are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease irrespective of whether they lose the weight in between their 40s and 60s and 70s and 80s,” she said...
https://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20200222/study-belly-fat-increases-brain-inflammation-risk-for-alzheimers

2/22/20

My thoughts: This one is an uh-duh. Just about anyone who takes ten seconds to think or read about the Standard American Diet (now becoming the world-wide diet) can see a correlation between every killer and our diet.
A junk food diet can impair your brain, study finds

Eating food that is high in salt, fats and added sugars could harm your cognitive abilities.

That’s one of the headline findings from a research experiment that monitored the harm done by a diet high in saturated fats, salt, and sucrose – referred to as the Western-style diet...
https://europeansting.com/2020/02/22/a-junk-food-diet-can-impair-your-brain-study-finds/

Hippocampal-dependent appetitive control is impaired by experimental exposure to a Western-style diet

Animals fed a Western-style diet (WS-diet) demonstrate rapid impairments in hippocampal function and poorer appetitive control. We examined if this also occurs in humans. One-hundred and ten healthy lean adults were randomized to either a one-week WS-diet intervention or a habitual-diet control group...

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.191338#d3e785 

2/19/20

Alzheimer’s Disease and Tau Tangle Proteinopathies Linked to Protein that Prevents Tau ClearanceStudies by researchers at University of South Florida Health (USF Health) Morsani College of Medicine have found that a protein known as β-arrestin2 increases the accumulation of the neurotoxic tau tangles that cause several forms of dementia, by interfering with the process that cells use to remove excess tau from the brain. The studies demonstrated that an oligomerized form of β-arrestin2, but not monomeric β-arrestin2, disrupted the process of autophagy, which would normally act to help rid cells of malformed proteins like disease-causing tau...
https://www.genengnews.com/news/alzheimers-disease-and-tau-tangle-proteinopathies-linked-to-protein-that-prevents-tau-clearance/

2/18/20

India: Lead Exposure, A Possible Risk Factor Causing Alzheimer's Disease: ICMR
Lead (Pb) a common pollutant found in the environment is released from a number of items like paints, cosmetics, batteries, and glass. As a toxic material, lead can cause pathophysiological dysfunctions of the central nervous system. A recent study conducted at ICMR- National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) has established the possible link...
http://www.mondaq.com/Article/894358

2/14/20

Added 2/19/20 - HMI discovers bacterial DNA can trigger Tau protein misfolding in Alzheimer’s disease models, potentially bringing new targets for therapeutic intervention Researchers from Human Microbiology Institute (HMI) and Mitchell Center for Alzheimer’s disease at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School in Houston have discovered that bacterial extracellular DNA can trigger Tau protein misfolding into neurotoxic aggregates, a key process in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis.  The discovery sets bacterial DNA as a new potential therapeutic target for treatment of neurogenerative illnesses...

http://outbreaknewstoday.com/hmi-discovers-bacterial-dna-can-trigger-tau-protein-misfolding-in-alzheimers-disease-models-potentially-bringing-new-targets-for-therapeutic-intervention-15009/

A link to the study:  

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59364-x

Memory-related Mild Cognitive Impairment May Be Linked to More Severe Alpha-Synuclein Buildup, Researchers Say
Memory-related mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease may be associated with a more severe buildup of alpha-synuclein protein in the brain — such as that observed in more advanced stages of the disease, a study finds...
https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2020/02/13/memory-related-mild-cognitive-impairment-parkinsons-may-be-linked-more-severe-alpha-synuclein-buildup-researchers-say/


Timing of brain cell death uncovers a new target for Alzheimer's treatment
Researchers led by Tokyo Medical and Dental University find that neuronal necrosis occurs much earlier in Alzheimer's disease progression than originally thought, and uncover a novel target for future treatment strategies...Surprisingly, the researchers found that neuronal death occurred much earlier than originally thought, with higher levels of necrosis seen in patients with MCI than in patients with full-blown Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers also observed a significant decrease in the levels of a protein known as YAP in Alzheimer's disease model mice and human patients with MCI.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/tmad-tob021220.php

Another story on YAP: https://www.drugtargetreview.com/news/56083/yap-protein-identified-as-new-target-for-alzheimers-disease/ 

2/12/20

HMI discovers bacterial DNA can trigger Tau protein misfolding in Alzheimer’s disease models, potentially bringing new targets for therapeutic intervention

New York , Feb. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Researchers from Human Microbiology Institute (HMI) and Mitchell Center for Alzheimer’s disease at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School in Houston have discovered that bacterial extracellular DNA can trigger Tau protein misfolding into neurotoxic aggregates, a key process in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis.  The discovery sets bacterial DNA as a new potential therapeutic target for treatment of neurogenerative illnesses. The breakthrough study is published in Nature’s Scientific Reports.

This is the first report showing that DNA from some bacterial species can promote Tau misfolding and aggregation - a hallmark feature of Alzheimer’s...
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hmi-discovers-bacterial-dna-trigger-160451505.html

2/10/20

CMU researchers study inflammation link to Alzheimer's
Inflammation is the body's natural reaction to infection and is necessary for healing, but when inflammation becomes chronic — due to recurring infections, injuries, or long-term exposure to chemicals or pollution — it can harm a person's health...Two Central Michigan University psychology faculty members are studying inflammation's role in the development of Alzheimer's disease...If they find that inflammation is a key element, then people could take steps early in life to reduce inflammatory events by doing things such as reducing stress, eating healthy foods and avoiding areas of high pollution...
https://www.themorningsun.com/news/local/cmu-researchers-study-inflammation-link-to-alzheimer-s/article_b678d9f4-49c7-11ea-b0e8-b7fab2360fbb.html

Alzheimer's Q&A: Is there a link between heart disease and Alzheimer’s or dementia?
In recent years, there has been mounting evidence of a strong correlation between dementia and cardiovascular disease, with regards to the heart condition’s tendency to starve the brain of blood.
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/health_fitness/article_092fc17a-436b-11ea-ab7c-d305f4601ab3.html
 
Is This Under-the-Radar Stock Set to Succeed in Alzheimer's Disease?
A promising new approach could potentially yield a new drug providing hope for millions of Alzheimer's patients worldwide.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/02/07/is-this-under-the-radar-stock-set-to-succeed-in-al.aspx