An expert called the discovery as the most important dementia finding in years. The condition, Late or limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, have the same symptoms as the Alzheimer's disease but it is distinct, the journal Brain reports. It may also explain why there is no found cure for dementia yet.
Dementia is not a single type disease; it is, in fact, a name for a group of symptoms that targets thinking and memory. There are numerous types of dementia and Alzheimer's is the most common, most known and most researched.
But recent studies show that at least a third of those who have Alzheimer's may have Late instead, says the international team of researchers, although both illnesses can co-exist. Late is known to affect those who are over 80 years old, according to the study that looked at the evidence from numerous post-mortem results.
It is also said that one in every five people who are in the age group has Late, it means that the public health impact of the illness will be massive, researchers say. Unlike Alzheimer's disease, Late tends to cause a gradual decline in memory. There is no specific test for dementia and signs of dementia can be seen in the brain after death in some cases.
Late is linked to the accumulation of a protein called TDP-43 in the brain, while Alzheimer's is linked to two different brain proteins called tau and amyloid. Researchers have been looking for ways to find a cure for dementia, but there are so many different types of disease and causes that it is difficult to do. There have been drugs created to reduce the proteins in the brain that were linked to causing Alzheimer's but they have failed.
There have been no treatments that are effective either and some pharmaceutical companies have backed out of the dementia drug experiments. Understanding Late better can help researchers discover treatments. Guidelines have been written to help increase awareness about this illness and advance research into this disease that has been newly defined.
Lead author Dr. Pete Nelson, from the University of Kentucky, said "It's been there all along obviously but we are just first recognizing it... Alzheimer's disease is something that everyone knows about - it's a way of getting dementia - but there are different diseases as well and this disease we are calling Late is one of the most common, and so it is sort of an exciting time to begin and do research and trying to optimize and develop therapies... There is a lot of work to be done. This is more of a starting point than a finish point. There's no doubt that many people who were previously called Alzheimer's, in fact, did not have Alzheimer's."
