The three postulates as a instrument to prevent Alzheimer's
(examined seven mainstream proposals)
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After more than 100 years following its pathologic description, the cause of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unknown. To test the validity of present and future proposals related to the probable cause of AD, three postulates, or necessary conditions, are recommended by Jack de la Torre, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas, Austin, in an article published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
"Knowing what causes AD is critically important because it would allow more effective therapy to specifically prevent new cases and apply interventions to slow down the mental decline in people who already have this dementia," commented Dr. de la Torre. "In search of the Alzheimer cause, a considerable number of hypothetical proposals have been published, but no proposal so far has reached a consensus of agreement by experts in the field. Proposals regarded as weak and insubstantial by evidence-based medicine not only cost lots of money and effort, they also hinder clinical progress."
Dr. de la Torre believes that any likely cause of AD would need to satisfy the criteria established by the three postulates when hypothetical proposals are submitted to explain the pathogenesis of AD. The first postulate requires that the cause of AD precedes the cognitive decline and neurodegenerative pathology that characterize AD. This rule identifies a primary event from a neuropathological effect generated by the disease process. The second postulate stipulates that interventions aimed at the proposed causal event should prevent or reverse the cognitive and neurodegenerative pathology associated with AD prior to disease onset. This postulate emphasizes prevention or reversal of emerging neurocognitive pathology considerably before AD onset. If the first and second postulate requirements are met, the third postulate follows that interventions targeting the causal event should significantly lower the incidence of AD. Continue to read: eurekalert.org
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