It does not originate in the brain: Canadian scientists have named a new cause of Alzheimer's disease

 The search for drugs against Alzheimer's disease is becoming an increasingly difficult task, because it is still not known exactly how this disease occurs. Scientists now suggest that Alzheimer's may not be a brain disease at all.

In July 2022, evidence emerged in the journal Science that a key 2006 research paper published in the prestigious journal Nature that identified a subtype of brain protein called beta-amyloid as the cause of Alzheimer's disease may have been based on fabricated data.

Some doctors believe that aducanumab should never have been approved, while others believe that it should be given a chance.

For years, scientists have been trying to find new treatments for Alzheimer's disease by preventing the formation of brain-damaging clumps of this mysterious protein called beta-amyloid.

Unfortunately, the study of abnormal protein clumps has not turned into a useful drug or therapy. The need for a new, "non-standard" way of thinking about Alzheimer's disease is becoming a top priority in brain science.

Scientists in a laboratory at the Krembil Brain Institute, part of the University Health Network in Toronto, are developing a new theory of Alzheimer's disease.

According to the last 30 years of research, scientists no longer consider Alzheimer's disease to be a disease of the brain. Rather, Alzheimer's disease is thought to be a disorder of the immune system in the brain.

If you look at Alzheimer's disease as a misdirected attack by the brain's immune system on the very organ it is supposed to protect, it looks like an autoimmune disease.

The immune system is responsible for every cell in the body, and if it works effectively you are protected from foreign invaders.

The same processes take place in the brain. When there is a head injury, the brain's immune system kicks in to help with recovery. When bacteria are present in the brain, the immune system is ready to fight back.

In addition, some scientists claim that it is the end result of a certain brain infection, with bacteria from the oral cavity often thought to be the culprit. Still others suggest that the disease may arise from the mishandling of metals in the brain, perhaps zinc, copper or iron.