Brain Inflammation may Lead to Memory Loss

A type of brain inflammation that is known to cause neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's could also be responsible for memory loss among healthy adults, a new study presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting reveals. Researchers from University of California San Francisco analyzed 76 people with an average age of 71.8 years and having detectible levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) while around 65 people with undetectable CRP levels were also analyzed.

Both the groups were given a list of 16 words to memorize and the researchers found that those with higher levels of CRP managed to recall fewer words compared to those with lower CRP.

“Anti-inflammatory drugs available today could be used to treat low grade infections in the brain, and could be used more aggressively following surgery, which prompts a large inflammatory response”, lead researcher Joel Kramer said.




Source-Medindia