Mon, Nov-19-18, 09:22
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Senior Member
Posts: 15,075
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Plan: mostly milkfat
Stats: 190/152.4/154
BF:
Progress: 104%
Location: Ontario
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The end of the article;
Quote:
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In a conflicting study published earlier this year, researchers at Cambridge University and Lund University, Sweden, found that in the brain, cholesterol acts as a catalyst in the formation of toxic clusters of amyloid-beta protein, a central player in the development of Alzheimer's.
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Led me to this;
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news...heimers-disease
Quote:
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Brain cholesterol associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease
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"Association" here is misused. There might be studies somewhere where elevated brain cholesterol correlates with Alzheimer's, but as noted in the story Demi posted, the association of "brain cholesterol" with amyloid-beta clusters is more literal, this catalyst effect. A decrease in "brain cholesterol" or in cholesterol intake as desirable isn't even mentioned in this article;
Quote:
Since amyloid-beta is normally present in such small quantities in the brain, the molecules don’t normally find each other and stick together. Amyloid-beta does attach itself to lipid molecules, however, which are sticky and insoluble. In the case of Alzheimer’s disease, the amyloid-beta molecules stick to the lipid cell membranes that contain cholesterol. Once stuck close together on these cell membranes, the amyloid-beta molecules have a greater chance to come into contact with each other and start to aggregate – in fact, the researchers found that cholesterol speeds up the aggregation of amyloid-beta by a factor of 20.
So what, if anything, can be done to control cholesterol in the brain? According to Vendruscolo, it’s not cholesterol itself that is the problem. “The question for us now is not how to eliminate cholesterol from the brain, but about how to control cholesterol’s role in Alzheimer’s disease through the regulation of its interaction with amyloid-beta,” he said. “We’re not saying that cholesterol is the only trigger for the aggregation process, but it’s certainly one of them.”
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The question is certainly not how to eliminate cholesterol from the brain. That wouldn't go very well. For one I think it would have to involve grinding the brain into a slurry, putting it through a centrifuge, various solvents and extraction processes. That itself might impair cognitive function.
The end of this article;
Quote:
Dr Tim Shakespeare of the Alzheimer’s Society said: “Previous research has shown people with high cholesterol levels in mid-life are slightly more likely to develop dementia, but until now we didn’t know why. This study has demystified the link. The findings suggest managing cholesterol levels in the brain could be a target for future treatments, but it’s still unclear whether there’s any effect from our diet.”
Dr David Reynolds of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Around 20 per cent of the body’s total cholesterol is found in the brain. Cholesterol in our diet can have a big impact on heart health and maintaining a healthy blood supply to the brain can help to keep dementia risk as low as possible.”
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I find a little bit amusing, these experts are clearly just spitting out random cholesterol/brain information they were already walking around with, their statements aren't all that relevant to the study they're supposed to be talking about.
Cholesterol triggers the aggregation of amyloid-beta? What they're basically saying here is that the normal--in the design you might say, by God or nature--status of the brain, cholesterol all over the place, is conducive to the aggregation of beta-amyloid. |
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