Core Concepts
Alzheimer's disease can be medically acquired.
Abstract
Five individuals in the UK developed Alzheimer's disease due to contaminated human growth hormone treatment. The study highlights the transmission of amyloid-beta protein and the potential implications for understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease. The cases suggest a new form of Alzheimer's disease, iatrogenic AD, which may be transmissible. Safety measures to prevent amyloid-beta transmission are crucial.
Key Highlights:
- Five cases of medically acquired Alzheimer's disease in the UK.
- Treatment with contaminated human growth hormone led to amyloid-beta transmission.
- Implications for understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease.
- Iatrogenic Alzheimer's disease as a potentially transmissible disorder.
- Importance of safety measures to prevent amyloid-beta transmission.
Stats
"Between 1958 and 1985, an estimated 30,000 people worldwide were treated with c-hGH for genetic disorders and growth hormone deficiencies."
"The therapy was halted in 1985 after three patients in the United States who received the treatment later died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) transmitted through batches of c-hGH."
"The findings were published online January 29 in Nature Medicine."
Quotes
"Our cases suggest that, similarly to what is observed in human prion diseases, iatrogenic forms of Alzheimer's disease differ phenotypically from sporadic and inherited forms, with some individuals remaining asymptomatic despite exposure to [amyloid-beta] seeds due to protective factors that, at present, are unknown."
"Bottom line: We shouldn't put amyloid-beta into people's brains, either accidentally or on purpose, and appropriate measures should be in place to ensure that doesn't happen."