Is the definition of Alzheimer’s disease wrong?

A neurobiologist says the leading definition of Alzheimer’s disease may be flawed—and we need to fix it to find a cure.

For more than a century, scientists have been studying Alzheimer’s disease and developing theories about its underlying cause. The leading theory for decades has been that abnormal amyloid plaques in the brains of those who suffer from the disease are the central cause.

But, according to one renowned Alzheimer’s researcher, this myopic focus is not only flawed, but may be holding back our search for a cure.

Neurobiologist Karl Herrup argues that we need to go back to the drawing board, redefine the disease, and understand the many factors that could cause it before we can race for a cure.

A professor of neurobiology and an investigator in the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Herrup is the author of How Not to Study a Disease: The Story of Alzheimer’s (MIT Press, 2023).

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Source: University of Chicago

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