Comments by J. C. Spencer

It is a well known medical fact that it is the toxic beta amyloid 40 and 42 protein that destroys vital connections in brain cells that causes Alzheimer’s.  It is also a well known scientific fact that a highly functional immune system can prevent Alzheimer’s.  I am delighted to see scientists all over the world working to prevent, delay, or totally cure Alzheimer’s.  The more information we can gather, the better the opportunity to prevent, delay, or cure this awful brain disease.  Out of the UK comes this report of a possible tomato “vaccine” that could prevent Alzheimer’s.  The results seem to be quite similar to the paper about the healthful sugar trehalose altering the gene expression of the beta amyloid 40 and 42 protein in an animal study. That paper abstract can be found in the Sugar Science Forum and in the NEWS section of the educational website of The Endowment for Medical Research in Houston, Texas at www.endowmentmed.org/

Here is the article out of the UK

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The tomato 'vaccine' that could prevent Alzheimer's

Tomatoes are being used to create an edible Alzheimer's vaccine

Tomatoes could be used as a vaccine against Alzheimer's, scientists claim.

They have genetically modified the fruit to create an edible vaccine that fires up the immune system to tackle the disease.

It works by attacking the toxic beta-amyloid protein that destroys vital connections between brain cells, causing Alzheimer's.

They say reducing the build up of the protein could prevent or delay the onset of the devastating disease, which affects 400,000 Britons.

Although around 500 new cases are diagnosed every day and a global epidemic is predicted by 2050, currently drugs only slow the disease's progression rather than curing it outright.

However, they do not work for everyone and there is a desperate need for new treatments.

To create the vaccine, the scientists combined the gene behind the beta amyloid protein with the tomato's genetic code.

They then fed mice the designer tomatoes once a week for three weeks.

Blood samples taken from the mice revealed the tomatoes triggered their immune systems to release disease-fighting antibodies, although the levels of plaques in the brain were not reduced.

The researchers from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology in Seoul are now trying to increase the potency of the vaccine in order to ' supercharge' the immune response.

They said the tomato was a good way of getting a vaccine into the body because it was enjoyable to eat and could be eaten raw.

The vaccine could be destroyed if the tomatoes were cooked, they added.

Professor Clive Ballard, of the Alzheimer's Society, said: ' Developing a vaccine is currently the subject of a lot of exciting research.

'This study suggests that it might be possible to derive vaccines from plants.'

By Pat Hagan and Fiona Macrae

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1033750/The-tomato-vaccine-prevent-Alzheimers.html