Looking for answers on how to keep older brains healthy

Ridding the brain of harmful beta-amyloid plaques is a common target for new therapies.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. Sept. 11, 2006.

Washington -- Researchers are pursuing numerous leads in their quest for the secrets of a healthy, aging brain.

One recent study focuses on the genes that allow us to reach age 90 with robust mental faculties. Another opens the door to new drug treatments that sweep out toxic bits of protein that build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. A third homes in on the dangers posed by high-fat, copper-rich diets.

The role of exercise and the wear and tear of stress on the brain also are being explored, and Swedish researchers even have assembled a risk predictor for dementia that weighs low education, advanced age, hypertension, cholesterol levels and obesity.

If any of these promising projects reach fruition, the yield in terms of public health benefits would be enormous as thousands of baby boomers approach the age at which diseases such as Alzheimer's take an increasing toll. Advanced age is the greatest risk factor for this illness, with one in 10 people older than 65 and nearly half of those 85 and older affected, according to the Alzheimer's Assn.

Research in the healthy aging field has exploded as attempts are made to uncover the cause of such puzzling maladies as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or Huntington's disease. "We have extremely well-trained physicians who are seeing patients all the time and are bringing data back to scientists," said Andrew Dillin, PhD, assistant professor at the Salk Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, in LaJolla, Calif. Since the cause of these diseases is unknown, "we really have to throw everything at it," he said. "It's a huge field with a lot of different approaches coming out of it."