A study published in 2024 revealed that the transmission of Azheimer’s from one person to another was possible under certain conditions. It was one of several studies that linked the transmission of Alzheimer’s to prion diseases. Craniopharyngioma are benign brain tumors that can appear at the brain’s base, often causing significant symptoms. They start to grow around the pituitary gland, affecting menstrual cycles and sexual performance in adults. These tumors can also stunt the growth of children.
The Transmission of Alzheimer’s Disease
In the 1950s, biologists made a breakthrough discovery in the treatment of children with these tumors that involved a growth hormone. They discovered that the hormone could be extracted from donors (even dead ones) and given to children with craniopharyngioma. Unfortunately, many of these children’s lives were forever changed after receiving the donated hormones. Donation protocols usually call for the use of a technique known as size-exclusion chromatography.
This technique would usually be used to separate large protein aggregates from the final product for donation. Somehow, this step was excluded, which resulted in a disaster. Around 200 children ended up developing a rare prion disease that causes brain damage rapidly, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. After this occurred, the use of growth hormones derived from cadavers was permanently stopped. However, this type of disease can often take decades to surface, which means that the children had to be closely monitored for the rest of their lives.
The 2024 Study on The Transmission of Alzheimer’s Disease
The 2024 study was directed by University College London professor John Collinge. It reported on five recipients of the growth hormone who acquired Alzheimer’s disease pathology at extremely young ages – one at only 39 years of age. The researchers had previously revealed that some of the growth hormone doses that four group members received were tainted with tau and amyloid beta, two proteins that are significantly linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
For decades, some neurologists have theorized that Alzheimer’s disease spreads in the brain in the same way as prion proteins do. Sceptics have traditionally believed that findings in animal models might not be replicated in people. However, this new study demonstrates that these findings are reproducible. The study indicates that “actual Alzheimer’s disease can be induced in all of its manifestations in humans.” Prion disorders and other neurodegenerative conditions have common pathways.
They all entail the deposition of an improperly folded normal protein in the tissue. Additionally, the disorders often start in a particular location in the brain and then spread. However, prion disorders are more aggressive than other medical conditions. In fact, the condition can advance at a very alarming rate. CJD might start in the cerebellum, weakening your coordination, but spread throughout the rest of the brain within weeks. Alzheimer’s disease can progress over a decade or more.
Extremely Unusual
Collinge uncovered an extremely uncommon method for transmission, and there is no proof that Alzheimer’s disease can still spread through contemporary medical approaches. Prion disease is extremely uncommon. After multiple blood donors and receivers developed prion disease, it became clear that this was not a coincidence. However, when 40% of individuals over the age of 90 have dementia, it becomes far more difficult to determine whether cases were transferred through genetics, blood, or environment.
Understanding how disease-causing proteins proliferate is an essential inquiry that could potentially improve therapies by pointing researchers to early indicators of disease. Studying these proteins might also help to answer important questions regarding the risk factors for these illnesses. While Alzheimer’s disease is not contagious like viruses or bacteria, understanding how it spreads will help us prevent it entirely in the future.
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