Recent studies have revealed that around 45% of people over the age of 85 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, and despite vast-swathes of research being conducted about it – there is still no medical cure for the illness. In the next 2 decades or so, the baby boom generation will continue to reach old age, leading to what some fear, may be potentially, epidemic proportions of Alzheimer’s sufferers in the population.
This has led researchers to intensify their research into the nature of the disease, as a means if finding a cure – and one current model of thinking centres on cells known as astrocytes. These are cells that contribute towards brain-function and oversee regenerative functions – a process that brains affected by Alzheimer’s are unable to perform regularly or efficiently. By using astrocytes when treating Alzheimer’s, some medical experts feel they may be able to halt the degenerative properties of the disease. Put more simply – when a brain is suffering from the illness, astrocytes become increasingly hyperactive. Previously, many scientists considered this to be a negative aspect of the disease, and others asserted that the reduction of astrocytes led to Alzheimer’s worsening at a faster rate.
However, recent studies claim that when astrocytes are increased, the illness is slowed-down. Whilst this helps to shed further light on the nature of the disease, it still fails to address what the root problems of Alzheimer’s actually are. So whilst, increased astrocytes may offer temporary relief, the illness will still continue to worsen in the long-term. Like many mentally-degenerative illnesses, Alzheimer’s is a highly-complex process that impacts upon cognitive function in a profoundly distressing and debilitating manner.
Nonetheless, this represents a big step forward in the medical community’s understanding of the disease, and the stimulation of astrocytes is being increasingly included in treatment routines for Alzheimer’s.
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