This entry was posted 11 years, 11 months ago.
June 9, 2011
Stresses are something that all of us have to encounter very often, and sometimes it is really very hard to learn taking certain things easy and not allowing stresses cause imbalances in our psychological stability. A lot is known about negative effects of stresses and the ways they damage our health, drain out our energy and destroy our optimistic thoughts, making us nervous, anxious, tense and depressed. Chronic or acute, stresses affect our overall health to a great extent, and a recent study has indicated that stresses are linked to certain changes in our brain function which can increase our chances of developing such terrible condition as Alzheimer’s disease.
The findings received by the specialists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, revealed that stress hormones cause such effect as production of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein in human brain which in turn causes the protein in the cells to clump and results in destruction of hippocampus nerve cells. This phenomenon is linked to memory loss and is usually accompanied with a decrease in cognitive functions. These symptoms are typically associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
“Our findings show that stress hormones and stress can cause changes in the tau protein like those that arise in Alzheimer’s disease,” says Osborne Almeida, a leading expert of the German research group. “Viewing stress as a trigger of Alzheimer’s disease offers exciting new research possibilities aimed at preventing and delaying this severe disease. Moreover, since vulnerability to major depression is known to be increased by stress, it will be interesting to know the role of molecules such as beta-amyloid and tau in the onset and progress of this condition,” he continues. Those who want to read more about this research can check out the latest issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.
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