Alzheimer is a disease which has surfaced more during the recent
years. It is caused by the protein compounds that are accumulated in the
brain. Since it is a neuro-degenerative disease, the person gets worse
as time passes by. The disease is recognized by the early onset of short
term memory loss. This can lead to death as the functions of the body
are lost one at a time.
There are many medical institutes that are
researching on the Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers believe that it
is mostly caused by genetic disorder. Michael Mullan
is one of the most popular researchers who studied the cause and cure
of Alzheimer. He is well trained in molecular genetics to perform gene
research with respect to the disease. He currently holds the position of
President and CEO in Roskamp Institute which is located in Florida.
Dr.Mullan made ground breaking research and presented over 200 articles
on Alzheimer which also includes the treatment for the disease.
Dr. Mullan
having experience of more than 20 years in biotechnology, invented
patents that used APP mutations. He worked for the causes of this
disease along with its cure by receiving grants from federal
organizations. He was the first person to identify the genetic cause of
the disease. It was established that people with gene mutations present
in TREM2 had a higher risk of getting affected by the Alzheimer disease.
There
are medications which can help in treating the patients and can slow
down the progress of Alzheimer, but a sure cure for the disease is still
a work under progress. Roskamp is the closest institute which is on the
way to finding a cure. The drug, Nilvadipine, was administered for
treating hypertension, which is identified as one of the reasons that
cause the disease. This drug has been proved to stop the protein
production in the brain. Amyloid is considered to be a tombstone and
hence the drug was developed to stop its production all together.
Michael Mullan Roskamp
Institute diagnoses patients with Alzheimer and offer clinical trial
for the drug which was developed. Observations were made in the genes
and the medical history of the relatives in order to diagnose the
disease. Medical imaging like MRI and PET are used to rule out other
forms of dementia. This type of diagnosis can be made only after the
onset of the disease. Early diagnosis include cerebrospinal fluid test
for the presence of amyloid. This spinal tap predicts the onset of the
disease which is about 94% accurate.
There is no drug at present
to prevent the onset of this disease. But, various studies prove that
measures like dieting, intellectual activities and reducing cholesterol
level can be done to decrease the chance of being affected by
Alzheimer’s disease.
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