00:00How a rare medical procedure led to the transmission of Alzheimer's.
00:05A 2024 study indicated Alzheimer's transmission between individuals is possible under specific conditions, linking it to prion diseases.
00:15Craniopharyngioma, benign brain tumors at the brain's base, can significantly affect adults and stunt children's growth.
00:21They developed near the pituitary gland, impacting menstrual cycles and sexual performance, highlighting the need for further research.
00:33In the 1950s, biologists discovered that growth hormones from donors could treat children with craniopharyngioma.
00:42However, omitting size exclusion chromatography led to about 200 children developing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
00:49Consequently, using cadaver-derived growth hormones ceased, but affected children needed lifelong monitoring due to delayed disease onset.
01:01The 2024 study by John Collenge found early-onset Alzheimer's in growth hormone recipients, linking it to tau and amyloid beta contamination, confirming that Alzheimer's can spread in humans similarly to prion disorders.
01:18Collenge found an unusual transmission method, with no evidence Alzheimer's spreads via modern medical techniques.
01:27The coincidence of prion disease in donors and recipients suggests transmission, but dementia's prevalence complicates tracing its origins.
01:35Understanding how disease-causing proteins proliferate is an essential inquiry that could potentially improve therapies by pointing researchers to early indicators of disease.
01:44Studying these proteins might also help to answer important questions regarding the risk factors for these illnesses.
01:51While Alzheimer's disease is not contagious like viruses or bacteria, understanding how it spreads will help us prevent it entirely in the future.
Be the first to comment