Alzheimer's May Have Been Transmitted via Human Growth Hormone

Alzheimer's is a form of dementia that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. The human brain is composed of neurons, nerves, and many connection networks. Together, all of these parts of the brain work together like a factory. Alzheimer's prohibits the brain from acting and performing in this systematic and connected way.  Symptoms of this disease start with memory loss and confusion, and later lead to disorientation, changes in mood and behavior, unfounded suspiscions about family and friends, difficulty speaking, swallowing, and walking.

There is question as to whether there is a connection between human growth hormone and Alzheimer's transmission between humans.  Professor John Collinge noticed the relative connection as he extracted growth hormone from the pituitary gland of eight deceased patients; all of which had injected growth hormone as a child. It was found that all eight patients had contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) via the hormone and died.  It was confirmed that none of the patients were carriers of known genes for Alzheimer's.  However, autopsies revealed that six of the eight patients had amyloid plaques, which are seen in patients with Alzheimer's.  To rule out the idea that CJD had a connection to amyloid proteins, a study was done on 116 deceased patients that died of CJD, but did not receive growth hormone. None of the deceased patients with CJD had any signs of the amyloid protein.  This meant that there was no connection between having CJD and amyloid proteins.  There was also no presence of tau tangles (proteins that are indicators of Alzheimer's).  However, researchers found that in people who died of Alzheimer's, there was presence of amyloid proteins. 

In my opinion, I believe there is an underlying connection between Alzheimer's and the human growth hormone.  In the article, it spoke of a study recently conducted that injected human amyloid brain material into the brains of mice.  This material remained dormant in the mouse's brain, but later on regained the ability to cause disease.  This shows that even though the amyloid protein remains inactive and basically "hides", it is still there and can cause disease later on in the organism's life.  I feel that this may be the case for humans.  For example in the case of the eight donors that had growth hormone extracted from their brains, they died of CJD which made it impossible to see if they contracted Alzheimer's later on in their lifetime.  Professor John Collinge definitely sparked a fire for Alzheimer's research to progress.