Breakthrough in search for a cure for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

By Plymouth Herald  |  Posted: December 29, 2015

A CURE for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's could be a step closer after a breakthrough discovery that toxic protein clumps kill neurons in motor neurone disease.

For the first time scientists have pinned down the structure of toxic clumps of a protein associated with incurable motor neurone conditions.

It could lead to new drugs to stop the protein clumps forming and stem the progression of the disease. Known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease, it is a rare condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system leading to muscle weakness.

It occurs when specialist nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord called motor neurones stop working properly. These are crucial to moving, speaking, swallowing, and breathing and as the disease progresses can be fatal. Motor neurone disease affects around two in every 100,000 people Britons each year and there are about 5,000 people living with the condition in the UK at any one time. Cures for motor neurone disease and other neurodegenerative diseases have long eluded researchers, largely because their causes have remained mysterious.

http://health.einnews.com/article/303820757/8RoxfiHtX1Wsh_sP

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