What occurs after a concussion, and why may it have a connection to Alzheimer’s disease, is the topic of some ground-breaking new study that hopes to shed fresh light on an old cause-and-effect relationship. Old data has demonstrated that traumatic brain injury (TBI), often known as a concussion, makes a person more likely to acquire Alzheimer’s disease; nevertheless, up until now, that was all we knew. Now, new research has thrown some light on this topic, as well as how the elements that contribute to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease begin to manifest themselves practically right away following a concussion.
Read more below.
We’re basically creating a miniature brain that we can hit and then study; […] Thanks to this device, people should know that when you get a concussion, you don’t have 10 years before you will see the damage, stated Riyi Shi, a neuroscientist from Purdue University.
The uplifting news is that the new information may indeed prove useful in the diagnosis and treatment of the condition. After putting their mini-brain to three strikes of 200 g-force, which, based on data, each hit was comparable to a hit on the head that could actually induce a head injury in American football, the researchers noted that the cells created a rush of acrolein, which has previously been related to both cell damage and neurodegenerative illness.
And now is when things become quite intriguing.
The researchers conducted additional experiments, which revealed that the medicine hydralazine, which is already prescribed for the treatment of high blood pressure and is associated with targeting acrolein, has the ability to lower the levels of acrolein in the brain after a concussion has occurred. Scientists now have something that they can repeatedly whack employing a pendulum gear and then closely track by viewing the cells under a microscope and then extracting them for additional research since they have this mini-brain. That is undeniably motivating, and it presents an opportunity to completely overwhelm everyone.
