Could Oxidative Stress Be a Cause of Alzheimer’s Disease?

A press release on pharmalive.com is intriguing. Titled “Alzheimer’s Drug Research: What if the Major Drug Companies Are Betting on the Wrong Horse?” this release focuses on alternative theories to the generally accepted ideas about what causes Alzheimer’s disease. The company featured in this release is a small biotech firm, Anavex, which is working developing a product to fight oxidative stress in the brain.

The release states: “Given the difficulties with the amyloid-beta approach, leading-edge pharmaceutical developers are turning to an alternative hypothesis about Alzheimer’s and driving novel approaches to possible treatments.  This alternate theory presumes that the disease’s cause is not amyloid-beta plaques but rather oxidative stress…”

 Farther down in the release, there are statements questioning the reason for the characteristic plaques and implying that the plaques may actually begin as the body’s attempt to correct the oxidation that is causing the disease. Will this be the direction of future research?

I’m happy to see this as another way of viewing the disease. Until there is a proven cause of Alzheimer’s, and effective treatment or prevention, researchers should be careful not to develop tunnel vision. All possible avenues need to be explored. For this to happen, there have to be companies willing to risk different approaches. 

Maybe, like cancer, Alzheimer’s isn’t all the same. Maybe there are different contributing causes. Until we know more, I enthusiastically greet each new study that shows promise, whether within the mainstream of scientific thought, or that of independent researchers looking for new paths to prevention and cure.

 If oxidation proves to be a cause, it is one more reason to eat a diet rich in antioxidants. That is something we can do now, without a prescription. I’m going to go grab a fist full of blueberries.