The researchers discovered a series of events that caused harm to the pathways of ‘white matter’ that connect various sections of the brain by analyzing the brain tissue of individuals with dementia after they had died and after the individuals had been diagnosed.
We’ve missed a major form of cell death in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. We hadn’t been giving much attention to microglia as vulnerable cells, and white matter injury in the brain has received relatively little attention, stated Stephen Back, a neuroscientist from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).
In a nutshell, it all begins with myelin, which is responsible for the formation of defensive layers that wrap around neurons to help keep them safe and improve their ability to communicate. In the process of clearing out the damaged myelin, the researchers found that the immune cells known as microglia, which are responsible for cleaning away worn-out layers of myelin, are also killed. This destruction appears to be the result of microglia receiving an excessive amount of iron, which is present in the white matter in substantial quantities. This is genuinely intriguing!
According to the findings, the cascading impact of the death of microglia and the deterioration of white matter appears to play a role in cognitive loss that is connected to Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Moreover, based on these findings, we can say that these intricate immune cells, known as microglia, are actually giving 100 % while protecting the brain from potential threats.
Before we can devise a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia conditions, we need to have a better understanding of how the disease first manifests itself and how it progresses inside the brain. This unique chemical route that was discovered might most certainly provide some hints that are desperately required. But even if the new facts are astounding in their own right, we still need to do further study in order to understand everything.
