Commentary
Capillaries, Old Age and Alzheime's Disease
Charles T Ambrose*Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Charles T Ambrose
Department of Microbiology
Immunology and Molecular Genetics
College of Medicine, University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40536, USA
Tel: 859 277 3779
E-mail: cambros@uky.edu
Received date: February 15, 2017; Accepted date: March 02, 2017; Published date: March 09, 2017
Citation: Ambrose CT (2017) Capillaries, Old Age and Alzheimer’s Disease. J Alzheimers Dis Parkinsonism 7:309. doi:10.4172/2161-0460.1000309
Copyright: © 2017 Ambrose CT. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Many of the minor complaints of old age may have a common etiology and are grouped together here under the term ‘the lesser ailments of aging’ (LAA). This essay proposes that they are due in large part to an age-linked reduced microcirculation. Capillary density (CD) in the tissues is determined by levels of angiogenic growth factors (AGFs). Over 47 studies have reported a reduced CD and/or waning AGFs throughout the bodies of aging animals and people. More convincing than such a generalization are the 80 sets of data comparing these two parameters in adult vs. the aged. These data have led to a hypothesis whose corollary proposes a specific treatment for the LAA. While genetically controlled, the waning levels of AGFs theoretically could be countered by pro-angiogenesis therapy and thus might ease the LAA or delay their onset. Therapies mentioned here include recombinant AGFs and inhibitors of type 5 phosphodiesterases, such a tadalafil/Cialis. Finally, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is generally an illness of the elderly and may have a single or multiple causes. However, its clinical course may be influenced secondarily by conditions affecting the LAA. Therefore, any effective treatment of them may influence favorably the clinical course of AD.
