Question: What do we know about the elusive nature of the pathogenesis of

Alzheimer's disease? How can personalized medicine, or the

application of genomics be utilized to fi nd treatments or even a cure for this

destructive form of dementia?

Alzheimer’s through a Genomic Lens

Most common form of dementia

Neurodegeneration within the brain

Short-term memory loss

Eventual death

Alzheimer’s: What it Boils Down to…

Amyloid-beta protein plaques~oligomers

Tau protein hyperphosphorylation~structural collapse

What do these protein build-ups do to the brain?

What We Know…

Stages of Alzheimer’s~Mild

~Moderate

~Severe

How they progress…

What Happens to the Individual Affected?

Alpha-tocopherol- Vitamin E may protect brain cells by eliminating toxic free radicals in the brain.

Bapineuzumab- This laboratory-designed antibody binds to A-beta protein and shuttles it out of the brain.

Intravenous Immunoglobulin- These natural antibodies, extracted from blood donors, may reduce A-beta in the brain.

Resveratrol- This compound, found in red wine, is being tested along with glucose and malate to protect brain cells from damage. It acts as and anti-inflammatory.

Solanezumab- This drug is thought to bind to smaller, soluble assemblies of A-beta, oligomers, before they become plaques and remove them from the brain.

What are We Trying to Do About it?

Reduce brain inflammation

Shuttle excess proteins out of brain

Inhibit hyperphosphorylation and/or build-up of proteins before they become in soluble.

Continued…

The direct cause, or at least a major component is, as of yet, unidentified.

Negatives of removing the excess proteins

Too many factors to generalize treatment

Why Alzheimer’s is So Tricky

Genomics has helped identify some of the genes which are involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s

So if genetic sequencing can become available for everyone a large population having actively expressed genes for AD may be able to be helped.

Truly genomics doesn’t help find a cure but instead help prevent the disease from developing.

Genomics and the Application of Personalized Medicine!

Conclusion:

Although Alzheimer's Disease is still claiming the minds of many, much scientific research is progressing towards finding a cure. With the relatively new genomic map at hand, scientists and researchers have found almost 200 genes directly relating to the disease and one loci has been pinpointed as playing a role in the development of Alzheimer's as well. With the growing field of personalized medicine, a cure for Alzheimer's is no longer a seemingly impossible task, it is slowly becoming possible, perhaps even probable.

Further Questions:

If all mental diseases were pre-diagnosed using a person's genome, how would that effect healthcare and society in general?

Are there mental disorders that cannot be targeted through a person's genome? If so, are there any ways to cure these diseases or even find out their causes?

In a futuristic world, where all diseases apparent or predisposed in a person's genome were to be targeted and eliminated (using personalized medicine), how prevalent would disease be in society? How would this effect an average human's lifespan?

Video: http://www.videojug.com/interview/alzheimers-disease-3