It’s an unfortunate truth of the human condition that many of us will develop some form of dementia over time, most commonly, Alzheimer's Disease. But after a new study, researchers are questioning whether dementia isn’t necessarily just a human problem.

With medical breakthroughs in human health occurring on an almost daily basis, it's always fascinating to learn about the ways in which diseases and illnesses affect animals too.

So, we couldn't help but be intrigued by new research that suggests dolphins can suffer from some of the same brain ailments as humans, most notably Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's is a debilitating and progressive neurological disorder that causes impaired cognitive functioning and the destruction of the brain over time. It’s the most common type of dementia and is characterised by the buildup of misshapen forms of two proteins normally found in the body, called amyloid beta and tau.

Until recently, Alzheimer's had been thought to be exclusively a human illness, as the same brain changes found in people with the disease had not been discovered in other animals.

Scientists speculate that dolphins are also prone to developing Alzheimer's Disease after they discovered that some specimens exhibit signs of the disease. Credit: Pexels/Hamid Elbaz.

But a team of scientists from a number of universities and the Mordun Research Institute in Scotland have put this belief to the test by studying brain samples taken from a broad range of toothed whale species - which includes dolphins, porpoises and sperm whales.

The team looked at brain samples taken from 22 whales, with 18 of them being elderly specimens. Sadly, all of the whales whose samples were studied had been found stranded off the coast of Scotland and died.

In their examination, four specimens from three different species were found to have all or most of the Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. These included two long-finned pilot whales, a white-beaked dolphin, and a common bottlenose dolphin.

This leads the researchers to believe that this particular type of brain illness may not be exclusive to humans.

The findings, while still in early stages, could be helpful in understanding why dolphins are often found stranded on land, leading many to suspect a 'sick-leader' theory - which speculates that a confused and sick dolphin might lead its group to the shore, where they may be stuck.

As lead researcher Mark Dagleish said in a statement from the University of Glasgow: 'These are significant findings that show, for the first time, that the brain pathology in stranded odontocetes is similar to the brains of humans affected by clinical Alzheimer's disease.'

'While it is tempting at this stage to speculate that the presence of these brain lesions in odontocetes indicates that they may also suffer the cognitive deficits associated with human Alzheimer's disease, more research must be done to better understand what is happening to these animals.'

He further went on to say that while the findings were exciting, more research is needed before any definite conclusion can be made.

The study has been published in the European Journal of Neuroscience.

Key Takeaways

• Researchers in Scotland have discovered that dolphins can demonstrate signs of Alzheimer's disease in their brains.
• They studied samples taken from toothed whales (dolphins, porpoises and sperm whales), and found evidence of the clumps of proteins that are typically associated with Alzheimer's in four of the animals - two long-finned pilot whales, a white-beaked dolphin, and a common bottlenose dolphin.
• This raises the possibility that they could suffer from the same cognitive deficits as humans, although more research will be needed to confirm this.
• The findings may also help to explain why some dolphins become stranded on land, as the 'sick-leader' theory suggests that an ailing leader could lead a group off course.

So there you have it, folks! While the new discovery raises a lot of intriguing questions, the researchers are wary of its potential implications for the time being. Who knows? Maybe it could be a stepping stone to a better understanding of the biology of the disease.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[JayKay]

Fascinating, I wonder where this research will lead our scientists as the unknown starts to become clearer and hopefully turns into the known and understood.

 

[Wendy]

Dogs get Alzheimer's disease too. My last dog had it and my daughters pug has it now. I worked for many years with people with dementia and Alzheimer's and could see the similarities in our dogs, they stare unseeing into space or at blank walls, our dog had what in humans is called sun-downers, she just got very restless every evening and just wandered, no where in particular, just wandering.

 

[Rob44]

Covid-19 has been suggested as causing the type of damage to the brain that can lead to early-onset Alzheimer's or a similar condition. The pandemic and its ramifications for our long-term health is far from over, irrespective of our politician's desire to convince us that this is the case. Sourced from Sci Tech Daily, an e-zine in the USA.

"COVID-19 Positive Patients at Far Higher Risk of Developing Serious Neurodegenerative Disorders
By European Academy of Neurology (EAN) June 26, 2022

Researchers found that people who tested positive for COVID-19 had a 4.8 times increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain), 3.5 times increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, 2.6 times increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, and 2.7 times increased risk of ischaemic stroke.

Reference: Frequency of neurological diseases after COVID-19, influenza A/B and bacterial pneumonia, presented at the EAN Congress 2022."