I had known for a few years that mice studies showed that inserting an enzyme into the mice's brain that destroys excess proteins immediately gave the mice the cognitive ability of younger mice without Alzheimer's Disease. So it was obvious that the plaques that form are not the immediate concern of dementia even though with time it can destroy brain cells. Nuns who died intellectually intact had a brain full of plaques. Perhaps their modest diet, medications, and pursuit of intellectual studies helped preserve their thinking brains.
As the study below shows, complexing Oleocanthal at a higher concentration in Extra Virgin Olive Oil with the low molecular weight "beta-amyloid oligomers, ADDLs are structurally different from the amyloid plaques that accumulate in brains of Alzheimer's patients." The complexation with Oleocanthal makes them too large to complex with the synapses which provide the transmission of neuron signals.
Normally we have enzymes that destroy excess proteins all over our body. One commercial antihistamine had to be taken off the market when it blocked the entrance to the formation of this protein destroying enzyme so excess protein accumulated causing harm. By injecting the brain with an enzyme to destroy excess proteins, the researchers found. I found the comment on the last page of Harper's Magazine, a page devoted a bevy of interesting comments, a few years ago.
A number of common medications which resemble antihistamines such as Detrol (bladder incontinence treatment) and a number of other common drugs discussed in "Our Daily Meds" by Melody Petersen, a former award winning New York Times reporter, pages 36-37 as "many drugs, including some used to treat allergies, anxiety, blood pressure, convulsions, depression, Parkinson's disease, and psychosis, have been found o have anticholinergic effects.
Bladder drugs block the action of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter of information required for both learning and retrieval. "... brains of the patients who had taken anticholinergic drugs for two years or longer had more than twice the level of abnormal clumps of amyloid plaque and tangled bundles of fibers as those who had not taken the drugs or had take them for a short time." The size and geometry of the drugs are important because they need to fit the synaptic connections.
Jim Kawakami, Sept 29, 2009, http://jimboguy.blogspot.com Shortened form at this google website. I normally put my more important e-mails and writings on google to preserve them in shortened form.
Mayo Clinic Explains Mediterranean diet: Choose this heart-healthy diet option
Antioxidant Property of Olive Oil May Explain the Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cure for Toxic Proteins Strongly Implicated in Dementia and Alzheimer's Symptoms?
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Mayo Clinic Explains Mediterranean diet: Choose this heart-healthy diet option
The Mediterranean diet is a heart-healthy eating plan combining elements of Mediterranean-style cooking. Here's how to adopt the Mediterranean diet. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mediterranean-diet/CL00011
Antioxidant Property of Olive Oil May Explain the Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2009) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090401200447.htm — Scientists have pinned down the constituent of olive oil that gives greatest protection from heart attack and stroke. In a study of the major antioxidants in olive oil, Portuguese researchers showed that one, DHPEA-EDA, protects red blood cells from damage more than any other part of olive oil.
"These findings provide the scientific basis for the clear health benefits that have been seen in people who have olive oil in their diet," says lead researcher Fatima Paiva-Martins, who works at the University of Porto.
Heart disease is caused partly by reactive oxygen, including free radicals, acting on LDL or "bad" cholesterol and resulting in hardening of the arteries. Red blood cells are particularly susceptible to oxidative damage because they are the body's oxygen carriers.
In the study, published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, Paiva-Martins and colleagues compared the effects of four related polyphenolic compounds on red blood cells subjected to oxidative stress by a known free radical generating chemical.
DHPEA-EDA was the most effective and protected red blood cells even at low concentrations. The researchers say the study provides the first evidence that this compound is the major source of the health benefit associated with virgin olive oils, which contain increased levels of DHPEA-EDA compared to other oils. In virgin olive oils, DHPEA-EDA may make up as much as half the total antioxidant component of the oil.
Paiva-Martins says the findings could lead to the production of "functional" olive oils specifically designed to reduce the risk of heart disease. "Now we have identified the importance of these compounds, producers can start to care more about the polyphenolic composition of their oils," she says. ...
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cure for Toxic Proteins Strongly Implicated in Dementia and Alzheimer's Symptoms?
ScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2009) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929133123.htm — Oleocanthal, a naturally occurring compound found in extra-virgin olive oil, alters the structure of neurotoxic proteins believed to contribute to the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's disease. This structural change impedes the proteins' ability to damage brain nerve cells. ...
Known as ADDLs, these highly toxic proteins bind within the neural synapses of the brains of Alzheimer's patients and are believed to directly disrupt nerve cell function, eventually leading to memory loss, cell death, and global disruption of brain function. Synapses are specialized junctions that allow one nerve cell to send information another.
"Binding of ADDLs to nerve cell synapses is thought to be a crucial first step in the initiation of Alzheimer's disease. Oleocanthal alters ADDL structure in a way that deters their binding to synapses," said William L. Klein, PhD, who co-led the research with Breslin. ...
Klein and his colleagues identified ADDLs in 1998, leading to a major shift in thinking about the causes, progression and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Also known as beta-amyloid oligomers, ADDLs are structurally different from the amyloid plaques that accumulate in brains of Alzheimer's patients.
Reporting on a series of in vitro studies, the team of Monell and Northwestern researchers found that incubation with oleocanthal changed the structure of ADDLs by increasing the protein's size.
Knowing that oleocanthal changed ADDL size, the researchers next examined whether oleocanthal affected the ability of ADDLs to bind to synapses of cultured hippocampal neurons. The hippocampus, a part of the brain intimately involved in learning and memory, is one of the first areas affected by Alzheimer's disease.
Measuring ADDL binding with and without oleocanthal, they discovered that small amounts of oleocanthal effectively reduced binding of ADDLs to hippocampal synapses. Additional studies revealed that oleocanthal can protect synapses from structural damage caused by ADDLs.
An unexpected finding was that oleocanthal makes ADDLs into stronger targets for antibodies. This action establishes an opportunity for creating more effective immunotherapy treatments, which use antibodies to bind to and attack ADDLs.
Breslin commented on the implications of the findings. "If antibody treatment of Alzheimer's is enhanced by oleocanthal, the collective anti-toxic and immunological effects of this compound may lead to a successful treatment for an incurable disease. Only clinical trials will tell for sure."
In earlier work at Monell, Breslin and co-workers used the sensory properties of extra virgin olive oil to identify oleocanthal based on a similar oral irritation quality to ibuprofen. Oleocanthal and ibuprofen also have similar anti-inflammatory properties, and ibuprofen – like extra virgin olive oils presumably rich in oleocanthal – is associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimer's when used regularly.
Future studies to identify more precisely how oleocanthal changes ADDL structure may increase understanding of the pharmacological actions of oleocanthal, ibuprofen, and structurally related plant compounds. Such pharmacological insights could provide discovery pathways related to disease prevention and treatment. ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929133123.htm
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