Progress Noted Against Alzheimer’s

The discoverer of a genetic trait linked to Alzheimer’s says he has figured out how it causes the disease - by weakening the microscopic “plumbing” that carries nutrients to brain cells and flushes out the waste.

The new understanding offers numerous possibilities for the development of drugs that might not “cure” the disease but could delay it for 20 years, meaning most people would not live long enough to get it, said Dr. Allen Roses, chairman of the neurology department at Duke University Medical Center.

Roses spoke Monday at a meeting sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.

An estimated 4 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.