Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Starving Brain cause of Alzheimer's

"A reduction in cerebral glucose utilization is one of the earliest signs of
Alzheimer's disease.
Although the exact cause of this reduction is not known,
gathering evidence suggests that it is part of a complex metabolic adaptation to
oxidative stress during which glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation are turned
down, glucose metabolism is shifted to the pentose phosphate pathway
to generate antioxidant reducing factors such as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
phosphate (NADPH) and glutathione, and the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
shunt is activated to provide glutamate as an alternate source of energy.

In the face of these adaptive metabolic changes, the Alzheimer brain runs short
of energy and begins to digest itself.


Evidence is presented that gammahydroxybutyrate, a natural product of the GABA
shunt, can provide the necessary energy, carbon, and antioxidant power and that
its use may be able to delay the onset and progress of Alzheimer's disease. "

 Source:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22571985/

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