Prion proteins link Alzheimer’s and Down syndrome

‘People with Down syndrome who live beyond age 40 develop progressive dementia similar to people with Alzheimer’s disease. In the last few decades, scientists have found that the brains of people with Alzheimer’s contain abnormal clumps of pathogenic, self-propagating proteins called prions. New research shows the same is true for those with Down syndrome. Unfortunately, drugs that target these protein clumps are unsuccessful at treating Alzheimer’s, suggesting that our understanding of the disease is incorrect….’

— via Big Think