Living Smart

III SCIENCE & STEM EDUCATION 080 081 alike, to keep an open mind on ideas as we endeavor to look for a breakthrough. Luckily, all hope is not lost. A recent study by a group of scientists in the United States, where they discovered evidence for the presence of Herpes virus in brain tissues from people with Alzheimer’ s, reminds us how scientific discoveries often c o m e i n t h e m o s t unexpected ways. O r i g i n a l l y , t h e researchers were looking for differences between healthy brain tissues and those with Alzheimer’ s, with a goal to identify new targets for drugs. To their surprise, they found the cells of the AD brain were expressing genes that would be expected if they were infected with Herpes. The presence of the virus itself in these tissues suggests that there may be a correlation between the two. While proof of causality is still lacking, the findings have opened up many possibilities for researchers to look further. Though there is no guarantee that the new hypotheses are correct, the truth is that progress can only be made by listening to our data – the often humbling experience of altering our beliefs in the face of new information. As we continue our pursuit of a cure for Alzheimer’ s it is only with an inquisitive but open mind that we shall finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Published on November 28, 2018 Relentless march of Alzheimer’s disease Prof. Karl HERRUP Chair Professor, Division of Life Science A hundred years ago, German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer identified what would become the first case of Alzheimer’ s disease (AD), which has since become the bane of elderly people around the globe. Alzheimer’ s causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior, and the symptoms only get worse as the disease progresses, eventually interfering with one’ s ability to carry out daily tasks. While much of our knowledge of medicine has advanced in the past centuries, there is still no cure for Alzheimer’ s, which affects close to 50 million people around the world, according to the Alzheimer’ s Association in the United States. Age remains the most important risk factor, with a majority of people diagnosed with the disease being 65 years old or above. As life expectancy continues to rise for humans, the risk of being affected by Alzheimer’ s also grows significantly higher: once we get past 85, there is a one-third chance of being diagnosed. In the United States alone, 5.6 million people are living with Alzheimer’ s, a number that is set to double by 2060 based on a recent report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no doubt that we have a huge problem with Alzheimer’ s, but the truth is we still do not understand much of the basic biology of the disease, without which an effective cure is close to impossible. To that end, it is of utmost importance for all parties involved in the ongoing fight, researchers and members of the public