THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 7, 1995 TAG: 9511070327
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: DURHAM LENGTH: Short : 26 lines
The discoverer of a genetic trait linked to Alzheimer's says he has now figured out how the trait causes the disease - by weakening the microscopic ``plumbing'' that carries nutrients to brain cells and flushes out the waste.
The new understanding offers numerous possibilities for the development of drugs that might not ``cure'' the disease but could delay it for 20 years, meaning most people would not live long enough to get it, said Dr. Allen Roses, chairman of the neurology department at Duke University Medical Center.
Speaking at a meeting sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, Roses also reported that people with the Alzheimer's gene are more likely than others to die after a head injury, because of the weakened condition of their neurons, or nerve cells. by CNB