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Nature 406, 137-139 (13 July 2000) | doi:10.1038/35018196
Neurodegeneration: One-hit neuronal death
Nathaniel Heintz
Abstract
Statistical analyses of neuronal death rates in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders indicate that a 'one-hit' model of cell death may be common to all of them. In this model, affected neurons are in an abnormal state in which there is a higher chance that a rare catastrophic event will lead to cell death.
It is a rare and fortunate individual who has not witnessed the devastating consequences of neurodegenerative illness. This experience may have come from seeing the inexorable deterioration of a family member suffering late in life from Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, the sudden loss of motor function in patients in the prime of life suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), or the tragic consequences of any of the other diseases that wreak havoc in the nervous system.
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