King Grub
2015-09-10, 08:30
Only a decade ago, the idea that Alzheimer’s disease might be transmissible between people would have been laughed off the stage. But scientists have since shown that tissues can transmit symptoms of the disease between animals — and new results imply that humans, at least in one unusual circumstance, may not be an exception.
“This is the first evidence of real-world transmission of amyloid pathology,” says molecular neuroscientist John Hardy of University College London (UCL). “It is potentially concerning.”
If confirmed, the findings raise the spectre that tens of thousands of other people treated with the human growth-hormone (hGH) extracts might be at risk of Alzheimer’s. And although there is no suggestion that Alzheimer’s could be contracted through normal contact with patients, some scientists worry that the findings may have broader implications: that Alzheimer’s could be passed on by other routes through which CJD can be transmitted, such as blood transfusions or contaminated surgical instruments.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7568/full/nature15369.html
“This is the first evidence of real-world transmission of amyloid pathology,” says molecular neuroscientist John Hardy of University College London (UCL). “It is potentially concerning.”
If confirmed, the findings raise the spectre that tens of thousands of other people treated with the human growth-hormone (hGH) extracts might be at risk of Alzheimer’s. And although there is no suggestion that Alzheimer’s could be contracted through normal contact with patients, some scientists worry that the findings may have broader implications: that Alzheimer’s could be passed on by other routes through which CJD can be transmitted, such as blood transfusions or contaminated surgical instruments.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7568/full/nature15369.html