High stress triggers Alzheimer risk: Study

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: High stress invites several health problems ranging from depression to heart strokes. Recently, scientists have discovered that people who generally takes a lot of stress are at higher risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The scientists from Boston University of Medicine revealed that stress encourages accumulation of key proteins in brains leading to neurodegeneration which is an important symptom of Alzheimer disease.

The findings published in Cell Reports focuses on the tau protein whose abnormal clumping can damage the nerves of the brain.

New research shows that the tau protein directs the formation of stress granules, which are molecular complexes that allow nerve cells to adapt to stresses, such as injury.

The tau-stress granule complex is usually short lived, but in the setting of chronic stress, tau persistently forms into a cluster, leading to the degeneration of nerve cells seen in AD.

However, the team of scientists are also prepared with a solution to cope this problem. According to them reducing the amount of one of the key stress granule proteins, TIA1, prevented tau aggregation and nerve cell degeneration.

(With ANI inputs)