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- Anesthetics -
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Observations:
Anesthetics:
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Can inhaled anesthetics initiate a biochemical cascade or domino
effect leading to degenerative neurological diseases? So many
people have noticed a big change in their LO's mental abilities
after surgery that I think there are too many clouds to believe
they don't carry the rain.
Symptoms appearing after surgery seems to be a common thread in
these tales. In my mother's case, the surgery was in mid 1999. We
started noticing symptoms in mid 2000. Since we know that CBD
progresses slowly, I think the 1 year between surgery (with
inhaled anesthetic) and the development of symptoms is not out of
character. It is also interesting that the first
case of CBD was identified in 1968, and it was over 10
years
later that other cases were reported. Is it possible that
the disease, as we see it now, did not exist before this, and is
being caused by exposure to a chemical? The inhaled anesthetic,
halothane was introduced in 1956, and used through the 1980s. It
was replaced in the 1980s by enflurane and isoflurane. [from Wikipedia].
Prior to 1956, volatile anaesthetics such as diethyl ether and
cyclopropane were used.
"... Collectively, these findings suggest that isoflurane can
induce apoptosis, which, in turn, increases BACE and
{gamma}-secretase levels and Aß secretion. Isoflurane also
promotes Aß aggregation. Accumulation of aggregated Aß in the
media can then promote apoptosis. The result is a vicious cycle of
isoflurane-induced apoptosis, Aß generation and aggregation, and
additional rounds of apoptosis, leading to cell death."
"Previous studies by the Pittsburgh researchers found that the
inhaled anesthetics halothane and isoflurane and the intravenous
anesthetic propofol encouraged the growth and clumping of Abeta in
a test tube experiment."
"...We found that, regardless of the anesthetic used, anesthesia
induced rapid and massive hyperphosphorylation of tau, rapid and
prolonged hypothermia, inhibition of Ser/Thr PP2A (protein
phosphatase 2A), but no changes in APP metabolism or Aß (ß-amyloid
peptide) accumulation. Reestablishing normothermia during
anesthesia completely rescued tau phosphorylation to normal
levels. Our results indicate that changes in tau phosphorylation
were not a result of anesthesia per se, but a consequence of
anesthesia-induced hypothermia, which led to inhibition of
phosphatase activity and subsequent hyperphosphorylation of
tau..."
Hmmm.
Role Of Anesthetics In
Alzheimer's Disease: Molecular Details Revealed
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25,
2007) — Inhaled anesthetics commonly used in surgery are more
likely to cause the aggregation of Alzheimer's disease-related
plaques in the brain than intravenous anesthetics say University
of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in a journal
article published in the Jan. 23 issue of Biochemistry. This is
the first report using state-of-the-art nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) spectroscopic technique to explain the detailed
molecular mechanism behind the aggregation of amyloid β (Aβ)
peptide due to various anesthetics...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070125110605.htm
Common Anesthetic May
Induce Cell Death, Generation Of Alzheimer's-Associated
Protein
ScienceDaily (Feb. 7,
2007) — A new study has found how one of the most commonly used
anesthetics may produce Alzheimer's-like changes in the brain.
Previous studies have shown that applying the anesthetic
isoflurane to cultured neural cells can lead to generation of
amyloid-beta protein -- the key component of senile plaques seen
in the brains of Alzheimer's patients -- and to the cell-death
process known as apoptosis. In the Feb. 7 Journal of
Neuroscience, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital
(MGH) and colleagues describe how isoflurane may set off a
process in which A-beta generation and apoptosis interact with
and magnify each other. Since this work was done in cell
cultures, it is unknown whether the findings reflect a possible
effect of the anesthetic on human brains...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070207091556.htm
Common Anesthetic
Induces Alzheimer's-Associated Changes In Mouse Brains
ScienceDaily (Nov. 14,
2008) — For the first time researchers have shown that a
commonly used anesthetic can produce changes associated with
Alzheimer's disease in the brains of living mammals, confirming
previous laboratory studies...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081112124410.htm
Inhaled Anesthetics
Accelerate Appearance Of Brain Plaque In Animals
ScienceDaily (Mar. 10,
2007) — Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's School
of Medicine have discovered that common inhaled anesthetics
increase the number of amyloid plaques in the brains of animals,
which might accelerate the onset of neurodegenerative diseases
like Alzheimer's...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070309141127.htm
Anesthesia And
Alzheimer's Disease
ScienceDaily (Apr. 25,
2008) — In studies of human brain cells, the widely-used
anesthetic desflurane does not contribute to increased
production of amyloid-beta protein; however, when combined with
low oxygen conditions, it can produce more of this Alzheimer's
associated protein...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080425123402.htm
Surgery Not Linked to
Memory Problems in Older Patients
ScienceDaily (Nov. 19,
2009) — For years, it has been widely assumed that older adults
may experience memory loss and other cognitive problems
following surgery. But a new study from researchers at
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis questions
those assumptions. In fact, the researchers were not able to
detect any long-term cognitive declines attributable to surgery
in a group of 575 patients they studied... We were able to use
patients as their own controls before and after surgery and to
compare groups of patients over time, and we did not detect any
evidence of a long-term cognitive decline," Evers says. "Our
findings suggest that if older people physically recover from
surgery, they should expect that within six months or a year,
they will return to their previous level of cognitive ability,
too."...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119111339.htm
Anesthesia Increases
Risk of Developing Alzheimer's Disease in Patients With
Genetic Predisposition, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Mar. 25,
2010) — A new study confirms that anesthesia is safe for normal
mice but potentially harmful for mice with genetic risk factors
for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Over several months,
investigations have focused on analyzing the effects of the
anesthesia in normal mice and in mice with mutations that
produce AD. The use of repetitive anesthesia with isoflurane
(one of the most common anesthetics by inhalation) increases the
risk of developing changes similar to those observed in AD
brains in mice with mutations of the amyloid precursor protein
(APP)...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100324155359.htm
Alzheimer's: Bigger Molecular-Sized
Anesthetics Do Not Promote Amyloid Beta Peptide
Micro-Aggregation
ScienceDaily (Apr. 20, 2010)
— Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder
affecting millions of people worldwide and has become a major
global concern. Uncontrolled oligomerization (aggregation) of Aβ
peptide is the hallmark of AD and it is believed to be causally
related to AD pathomechanism. Intensive research (biophysical,
animal model and clinical) is underway to investigate the cause of
this unexplained aggregation of Aβ peptide, which is probably
triggered by some agent or process in predisposed individuals, and
subsequently to trace the molecular pathways involved in the
phenomenon. In the April issue (Vol 20, 1, pages 127-134,
2010) of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, a laboratory
observation based on state-of-the-art nuclear magnetic resonance
spectroscopy, suggests a molecular pathway for a possible link
between anesthesia and Aβ peptide aggregation. It was observed
that the larger sized intravenous anesthetic diazepam (both at
clinical and at very high concentration), when incubated in
isolation with amyloid beta-peptide, does not promote aggregation
in laboratory results monitored serially, even sixty-three days
after the onset of incubation. However, if diazepam is
co-incubated with halothane (a general inhaled anesthetic with
small molecular size, and often used as an add-on in the clinical
setting), profound amyloid beta-peptide oligomerization is
observed, and the presence of the larger molecular-sized diazepam
is rendered ineffective in preventing Aβ oligomerization...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100421102528.htm
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Updated: July 2, 2012
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