Alzheimer’s Decline May Be Slowed by Protein Boost [Video]

Have we been wrong about what causes Alzheimer’s disease? New research suggests yes.

For years, the leading theory for the cause of this neurodegeneration was the accumulation of abnormal proteins in and around our brain cells. One of the major components of these protein buildups was thought to be a protein called amyloid beta, or Aβ42, which clump together into what is known as amyloid plaques. However, a new study from the University of Cincinnati has thrown this hypothesis into doubt.

“We noticed that most of the population with amyloid plaques does not develop Alzheimer’s,” Alberto Espay, professor of neurology at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, told Newsweek. “By the age of 85 years, only one fifth of those with amyloid plaques develop Alzheimer’s disease.”

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Previous researchfrom Espay’s lab has suggested that Alzheimer’s does not occur as a direct result of these plaques. Instead, it appears to …