Scientists find natural Alzheimer's controls
Discovery could lead to new drugs
By Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press
August 11, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Scientists have discovered molecular janitors that clear away a sticky substance in the brain blamed for Alzheimer's disease -- until they get old and quit sweeping up.

The finding helps explain why Alzheimer's is a disease of aging. More important , it suggests a new weapon: drugs that give nature's cleanup crews a boost.

``It's a whole new way of thinking in the Alzheimer's field," said Dr. Andrew Dillin, a biologist at California's Salk Institute for Biological Studies who led the research. story