Causes Of Alzheimer s Disease Damage

One of the causes of alzheimer s disease damage is from beta amyloid accumulation.

Preliminary research shows theanine from green tea inhibits brain damage and neurotoxicity from beta amyloid.



Researchers provided theanine for five weeks in the drinking water of mice, who were then injected with amyloid beta (Abeta).

Results showed that theanine significantly

• reduced memory loss or impairment

• reduced the levels of beta amyloid

• reduced brain cell death in the cortex and hippocampus

• and reduced protein and lipid damage from oxidation

compared to controls.

Pathways included suppression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and NF-kappaB (nuclear factor), as well as reduction of oxidative damage (Kim, L-theanine, an amino acid in green tea, attenuated beta-amyloid-induced cognitive dysfunction and neurotoxidity: Reduction of oxidative damages and inactivation of ERK/p38 kinase and NF-kappaB pathways, Free Radic Biol Med, September 2009).

Beta amyloid is a misformed protein found in the brain. It is considered one of the probable causes of the brain damage with Alzheimer's disease.

This disease currently affects over 5 million people in the United States, and 35 million globally. It is the seventh leading cause of death, and triples the health care cost of these patients to over $148 billion in the United States(Alz.org) and $315 billion globally.

This disease is expected to rise sharply over the next few decades with the aging of the baby boomer population.

Theanine is a rare amino acid found in green tea.

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