Cracking the Alzheimer's Code. (cover story)

ALZHEIMER'S disease research; DEMENTIA; ALZHEIMER'S disease risk factors; GENETICS of Alzheimer's disease; ALZHEIMER'S disease treatment; AMYLOID plaque; TAU proteins; BRAIN imaging; MICROGLIA; TANZI, Rudolph

The article looks at research on the causes of and treatments for Alzheimer's disease, a major cause of dementia. It notes that amyloid plaques and tau proteins in tangled configurations are the two major elements found in the brains of people with the disease. It says research has been advanced by brain scans using a radioactive dye as well as by a human embryonic stem cell-based disease model. It indicates that effective treatments will likely have to begin before a person has symptoms and discusses work on genetic tests to identify people at risk. Other topics include the discovery of a gene that appears to be protective against Alzheimer's and the role of microglia cells in the brain, and researchers cited include neurologist Rudolph Tanzi.