Alzheimer's: Is Stress A Non-Genetic Link To The Disease?

Previous studies have linked various genetic and potential environmental factors to Alzheimer's disease. Yet did you know that stress could be essentially contribute to the overall health issue?

A team of researchers at the University of Florida Health conducted a study on mouse models and in human cells. They discovered that stress-coping hormones released by the brain produce amyloid beta fragments that clump together and increase the risk of degeneration in the brain. The findings are particularly important as they touch on more non-genetic components that may increase disease risk.

Statistics show that worldwide, close to 44 million people have some form of dementia, with Alzheimer's being the most, according to Alzheimer's Disease International. Up to 1-in-9 Americans over the age of 65 are estimated to have the disease in the United States, alone, and close to one-third of Americans over the age of 85 will also be afflicted with the health issue.

In this recent study, researchers examined mouse models that were exposed to an acute stress hormone known as corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) and that had more of the Alzheimer's-related protein in their brains than those in the control group. Furthermore, the stressed mice also had more of a specific form of amyloid beta.

To get a better understanding of how CRF increases the amount of Alzheimer's related proteins, researchers then treated human neurons with CRF, which causes a significant increase in the amyloid proteins that are involved in Alzheimer's disease.

These and other experiments reveal just how stress can harm the body, including how the stress hormone, CRF, causes an enzyme known as gamma secretase to increase its activity, increasing protein levels that may increase the risk of the disease.

"These softer, non-genetic factors that may confer risk of Alzheimer's disease are much harder to address," said researchers, in a new release. "But we need more novel approaches in the pipeline than we have now."

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