All along, the medical field tries to see Alzheimer's from a cerebral perspective. Turned out, there was more. (Image: Health Thoroughfare)

The missing link between Alzheimer & liver function

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Medical and Health
Aug 03, 2019
1564
For years, researchers have been trying to find any clues about Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that causes memory loss and other behavioral disorders. It usually occurs in elderly people. Usually, researchers then go for the brain to analyze what has gone wrong.

However, a new study revealed that we should look at one more organ than the brain.

Researchers from Alzheimer's Disease Metabolomics Consortium (ADMC) at Duke University in Durham, NC, and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) conducted joint research to find a “missing link” to Alzheimer in the liver. Quite extraordinary, remembering that liver and brain function are not correlated as far as we know.

The researchers said that the joint experiment between ADMC & ADNI was done to bring out a new perspective in tackling Alzheimer's.

The research involved 1,581 blood samples from participants who had agreed to do the CT scan before the blood test. Besides the CT scan and blood test, the researchers asked them to perform tests to assess other symptoms of Alzheimer's. These tests were to determine whether liver function status is correlated to the performance of the brain function as well.

Based on the research, the researchers then concluded that liver function “DOES” correlate with Alzheimer's. The result of the study was later published in JAMA Network Open.

Why the liver? The researchers pointed out that the liver is the most important place as well in terms of metabolic processes. People suffering from Alzheimer's show signs of metabolic dysfunction which might correlate to the liver problem reflected through its blood biomarkers. Turned out, blood biomarkers and cerebrospinal fluid can be related to analyze Alzheimer from its early stage.

The researchers predicted that in the future, the blood biomarker analysis would be faster; hence, the approach to Alzheimer's becomes even easier.

It is a new approach to Alzheimer's, from only staring at the brain to staring at the liver. The researchers concluded that all along the research had been stagnant because the medical field only analyzed Alzheimer limited to the brain, ignoring other organs.

On the contrary, the researchers added that the medical field should analyze the brain as the motor for other organs; hence, other organs are not left behind since it is run by the brain. Therefore, analyzing other organs is also important as other organs may also contribute to brain dysfunction.

Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325934.php

Medical , Study , Cerebral , Alzheimer's , Treatment , Liver , Neural