New drugs for Alzheimer's may also treat traumatic brain injury

Researchers have stumbled on how two brain disorders are linked -- both Alzhemier's and traumatic brain injury trigger destruction of cellular pathways. This finding could pave the way for successful treatment of both conditions.

Both Alzheimer's and traumatic brain injury are associated with the build-up of beta amyloid, a toxic brain peptide.

This substance is commonly found in the brains of elderly patients who died from Alzheimer's disease, but has also been found in a third of traumatic brain injury victims, said neurologist Mark Burns, from Georgetown University Medical Centre (GUMC).

People experiencing such a brain injury are also known to have a 400 percent increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Burns says that build up of beta amyloid occurs in a second wave of damage that follows immediate "necrotic" death of nerve cells after traumatic brain injury, said a GUMC release.

Tissues become necrotic or gangrenous if the blood supply to a limb is cut off. This secondary injury can last months, if not years, resulting in large holes within brain tissue.

At the 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease, scientists will show that deactivating these pathways, in part by using a class of Alzheimer's drugs undergoing tests, protected animals against motor and cognitive deficits.

Last updated on Jul 13^th, 2009 at 10:52 am IST--IANS