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Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's disease affects over 400,000 people in the UK. It is the most
common cause of dementia, and also the best understood.
The hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease are the formation of plaques and tangles in the brain.
These structures are made up from two key proteins, amyloid and tau.
Amyloid is produced when a much larger protein, the amyloid precursor protein, is degraded.
In healthy cells amyloid is removed. However, during Alzheimer's disease the amyloid accumulates
on the outside of nerve cells forming plaques. Scientists think that amyloid is toxic to
cells.
The second protein involved in Alzheimer's disease is called tau. In healthy cells tau
is an important part of the internal cell network, helping to transport nutrients around
the cell. However, during Alzheimer's disease an abnormal version of tau is produced. This
abnormal tau does not function correctly. It forms tangles inside the cells, disrupting
the transport network and effectively strangling the cell.
The current treatments for Alzheimer's disease are designed to improve communication between
cells. However, they can only slow the progression of the disease. Scientists hope that a future
drug will target amyloid or tau and stop the disease altogether.