A new study claims Alzheimer's disease may be able to pass from one person to another during certain medical procedures.
Experts at University College London (UCL) believe that “seeds” of the condition could attach themselves to surgical instruments - in the same way the brain disorder Creuzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD) can.
Researchers say the results are "potentially concerning" and have called for further studies to see if surgical instruments could pick up harmful proteins which survive conventional sterilisation with formaldehyde.
The study, published today in the journal Nature, said this transmission would occur only in highly unusual circumstances that involve direct exposure to brain tissue.
The head of the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease at UCL, John Collinge was quick to add that this does not mean it's possible to catch Alzheimer's by taking care of someone with the disease.
The basics
- Doctors examined the brains of eight CJD patients (aged 36-51)who had received pituitary growth hormone taken from bodies more than 30 years ago.
- It was given to children with stunted growth until the practice was banned in 1985.
- Four of the brains had an unusual build-up of protein called amyloid beta protein - which has long been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
- The protein is a sticky deposit which forms among brain cells and stops them communicating with each other properly in Alzheimer's patients.
- Those involved in the study had died too young to have so much amyloid in their brains.
- Researchers concluded the growth hormone had been tainted with a second protein from the human pituitary glands — one that caused amyloid to build up quickly.
- Although none had developed dementia, scientists say it is likely they would have, had they lived longer.
"What we need to consider is that in addition to there being sporadic Alzheimer's disease and inherited or familial Alzheimer's disease, there could also be acquired forms of Alzheimer's disease," said lead scientist Professor Collinge.
