can’t wait
Researchers rethink the role
of amyloid in causing Alzheimer’s
By Laura Sanders
The polite term for what Alzheim- er’s disease does to the brain is “neurodegeneration.” In reality, it’s more like
violent, indiscriminate devastation.
Alzheimer’s scrambles communication
channels, incites massive inflammation
and demolishes entire brain regions as
once plump cells shrivel and die, burying memories in the wreckage. As the
attack intensifies, Alzheimer’s gradually strips away a person’s mind, and
ultimately the cognitive abilities that
permit a conversation with a loved one,
a smile or a taste of food.
Differences in a healthy brain (top) and
a diseased one (bottom) clearly show
the damage wrought by Alzheimer’s.
