British researchers have potentially linked Alzheimer’s, CJD and other degenerative brain diseases to surgeries and medical procedures that use human growth hormones.

Alzheimer’s may be transmitted through certain medical procedures and surgeries, according to a new study from British researchers.

The study focuses on the possibility that treatments introducing the human growth hormone, an active ingredient in a number of prescription drugs, could transmit Alzheimer’s.

The Study

In the study, six patients showed precursors for beta amyloid proteins, which may have been caused by genetic mutations associated with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Image: American Journal Of Neuroradiology

The study, conducted by British researchers John Collinge and Sebastian Brandner, was published in the international science journal Nature.

Researchers analyzed autopsies of British patients ages 36 to 51. The patients are thought to have developed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) through treatment with human growth hormone from cadavers. CJD is a rapidly progressing degenerative brain disease that is similar to Alzheimer’s.

In addition to CJD, the report showed another abnormality. Six patients showed precursors for beta amyloid proteins, which may have been caused by genetic mutations associated with early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Amyloid plaques are the main proteins found in the brains of Alzheimer patients. The presence of these proteins caused the researchers to question if the human growth hormone procedures could somehow transmit the building blocks for degenerative brain disease.

Evidence Of Transmission

The pituitary gland is the major endocrine gland attached to the base of the brain, which controls growth, development and the functioning of the other endocrine glands.
Image: Wise Geek

The human growth hormone is produced by prions and pituitary glands, which contain compounds that can lead to amyloid beta abnormalities. Prions are proteins that can fold and transmit to other proteins in a form of replication that is similar to viral infection.

The evidence shows certain medical procedures could transmit precursors for the beta amyloid proteins that could cause Alzheimer’s. However, according to researchers, “there is no indication that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted between people under ordinary circumstances.”

The study builds on previous evidence that diseases caused by prions might be transmitted thorough certain medical procedures. In 1958 to 1985, British patients were treated with human growth hormone that was extracted from cadaver’s pituitary glands that had been contaminated with prion. These patients developed CJD.

In 2012, 450 cases of CJD have been linked to cadaver-derived HGH and other medical procedures such as transplant and neurosurgery. But with an incubation period of 30 to 50 years, a link between HGH and Alzheimer’s or other brain diseases is difficult to prove.

A Cautionary Statement

Additional research is required to confirm a link between certain medical and surgical procedures and degenerative brain diseases.
Image: Prestige Care

Because the sample is very small, there’s no direct proof that precursors for beta amyloid can lead to Alzheimer’s. The evidence shows that it may be transmissible, but researchers have yet to confirm the connection.

According to one of the study authors, the findings “relate to the specific circumstance of cadaver-derived human growth hormone injections, a treatment that was discontinued many years ago.”

“It is possible our findings might be relevant to some other medical or surgical procedures, but evaluating what risk, if any, there might be requires much further research,” Collinge, of University College London, said.

In 2012, a study from the University of Texas Medical Center found that mice injected with tissue from a human with Alzheimer’s developed characteristics of the disease. Another study involving mice was published in PLoS One, which showed brain abnormalities that lead to Alzheimer’s may spread like a virus from nerve cell to nerve cell.

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Researchers are hopeful that the omega-3 compound in fish oil could stop the development of schizophrenia, which is a severe mental health disorder that affects 1 percent of Americans.

People say that eating fish is good for the body and the brain. Scientists are now working to confirm that fish oil’s omega-3 compound has a positive impact on slowing the development of  mental health disorders.

Although the cause of schizophrenia remains unknown, about 1 percent of Americans suffer from the disorder, according to the National Institute for Mental Health. A recent trial that builds on older studies shows fish oil may be the key to stopping schizophrenia from progressing past the first stage.

Fish Oil And The Human Brain

Omega-3 compounds could lower levels in the brain that are associated with mental illness.
Via: Science News

Schizophrenia begins to show itself with mild symptoms, including delusions and  paranoid thoughts, as individuals enter their teen years. The disorder is usually diagnosed in patients between the ages of 16 and 30 years old. The symptoms, which are listed below, will start developing slowly and begin to worsen as time goes on.

Cognitive: amnesia, belief that an ordinary event has special and personal meaning, belief that thoughts aren’t one’s own, delusion, disorientation, making things up, memory loss, mental confusion, slowness in activity and thought, thought disorder, or false belief of superiority
Behavioral: aggression, agitation, compulsive behavior, excitability, hostility, hyperactivity, nonsense word repetition, repetitive movements, self-harm, social isolation, disorganized behavior, or lack of restraint
Mood: anger, apathy, excitement, feeling detached from self, general discontent, inability to feel pleasure, elevated mood, or inappropriate emotional response
Psychological: anxiety, depression, fear, hallucination, paranoia, persecutory delusion, religious delusion, hearing voices, or mistrust
Speech: circumstantial speech, incoherent speech, rapid and frenzied speaking, or speech impairment

When the symptoms do begin to show, doctors are wary of prescribing antipsychotics to younger patients. Antipsychotics are associated with various short-term symptoms, including drowsiness and skin rashes, and long-term issues such as the movement disorder known as tardive dyskinesia.

For those with early symptoms, about one-third of people go on to develop psychosis. But fish oil’s active ingredient may help to slow the progression if its prescribed to patients at the right time.

Fish oil supplements possess the polyunsaturated fatty acid omega-3, which can help to lessen brain inflammation and protect neurons from damage. People with schizophrenia have lower levels of these fatty acids in their bodies and potentially in their brain cells.

Researchers believe that the omega-3 chemical could lower levels in the brain that are associated with mental illness.

The Trials

Schizophrenia is a debilitating thought, speech and movement disorder. Its cause is still unknown.
Via:Psychiatric Rehabilitation

Research into fish oil as a treatment for adults with schizophrenia has been inconclusive. Four trails found a successful impact from fish oil, whereas four other trials found no difference or improvement.

However, previous trials have suggested that fish oil will have a positive impact on the disorder’s progression if prescribed early in its first stages. A trial conducted seven years ago included 81 people from age 13 to 25 who experienced early symptoms of schizophrenia.

Half of participants took fish oil pills for three months, whereas the other half took a placebo. Those who took the fish oil pills were found to be less likely to develop psychosis a year later.

The recent trial acts as a follow-up, confirming that those who were given the fish oil may have been put on a different path altogether.

Out of the 71 included in the small-scale follow-up, 10 percent of participants who used fish oil developed schizophrenia. In the placebo group, 40 percent developed the disorder.

Researchers warn that the trial is small and must be reproduced to confirm fish oil’s effect on schizophrenia. In addition, the over-the-counter dosage of omega-3 may not have enough fatty acids to be beneficial to the patient.

Therapy and antipsychotics are the only treatments currently available, but recent trials bring hope that an effective and safe natural remedy is out there.

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