SASKATOON – Dr. Darrell Mousseau and his team of experts at the University of Saskatchewan have been zeroing in on preventative measures in cases of Alzheimer’s disease and its link to depression.
“Some people who are depressed go on to develop Alzheimer’s later on in life. And what we are trying to figure out is what causes that trigger from depression into an Alzheimer brain”, said Mousseau.
Mousseau says the team is working towards figuring out if there is something researchers can use in the depressed brain to identify people who would develop Alzheimer’s later on in life in hopes of establishing ways to prevent the disease early on.
“More recently we’ve been using autopsy brain tissues. And with that autopsy brain tissue from controlled people and Alzheimer’s patients we’ve been actually able to show that some of the proteins involved in depression are significantly changed in the Alzheimer brain.”
The comparison Mousseau has been working on has also uncovered impressive findings that shed light on the differences between the male and female brain in relation to the disease.
“What this is telling us is that male and female brains are different and we should maybe be treating the disease as two different diseases, not completely separate, but slightly different which means we should be looking at two different types of treatment.” said Mousseau.
Dr. Mousseau will be presenting his findings at the “Spotlight On Research” taking place at the Health Sciences Building at the University of Saskatchewan on Jan. 28.
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