Supplemental thiamine as a practical, potential way to prevent Alzheimer's disease from commencing

Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions

Jeffrey Fessel¹ 

[1] Professor of Clinical Medicine, Emeritus Department of Medicine University of California, San Francisco San Francisco California USA;

关键词: Alzheimer's;    cognitive loss;    commencement;    early;    prevent;    thiamine;   

DOI  :  10.1002/trc2.12199

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract It is better to attempt stopping Alzheimer's disease (AD) before it starts than trying to cure it after it has developed. A cerebral scan showing deposition of either amyloid or tau identifies those elderly persons whose cognition is currently normal but who are at risk of subsequent cognitive loss that may develop into AD. Synaptic hypometabolism is usually present in such at‐risk persons. Although inadequate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) may cause synaptic hypometabolism, that may not be the entire cause because, in fact, measurements in some of the at‐risk persons have shown normal ATP levels. Thiamine deficiency is often seen in elderly, ambulatory persons in whom thiamine levels correlate with Mini‐Mental State Examination scores. Thiamine deficiency has many consequences including hypometabolism, mitochondrial depression, oxidative stress, lactic acidosis and cerebral acidosis, amyloid deposition, tau deposition, synaptic dysfunction and abnormal neuro‐transmission, astrocyte function, and blood brain barrier integrity, all of which are features of AD. Although the clinical benefits of administering supplementary thiamine to patients with AD or mild cognitive impairment have been mixed, it is more likely to succeed at preventing the onset of cognitive loss if administered at an earlier time, when the number of aberrant biochemical pathways is far fewer. Providing a thiamine supplement to elderly persons who still have normal cognition but who have deposition of either amyloid or tau, may prevent subsequent cognitive loss and eventual dementia. A clinical trial is needed to validate that possibility.

【 授权许可】

Unknown