Researchers at UCL have discovered possible evidence that could suggest Alzheimer's disease can be transmitted between humans during a blood transfusion, dental work, and other operations due to contaminated instruments.

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Reported in Nature, the team of researchers lead by Professor John Collinge have cautiously suggested the results raise the possibility that dental procedures could lead to the transmission, but there is little proof of this at the moment.

Prof. Collinge explained: 'Our findings relate to the specific circumstance of cadaver-derived human growth hormone injections, a treatment that was discontinued many years ago. It is possible our findings might be relevant to some other medical or surgical procedures, but evaluating what risk, if any, there might be requires much further research.'

In response to the fact that the disease could be transmitted through dental instruments, Prof. Collinge said: 'The seeds will potentially stick to metal surfaces whatever the instrument is. Certainly, there are potential risks with dentistry where it's impacting on nervous tissue, for example root canal treatments.'

Professor Mike Hanna, Director of the UCL Institute of Neurology, said: 'This is potentially very important research from the UCL Institute of Neurology Prion research Group lead by John Collinge and Sebastian Brandner. It could inform our understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to Alzheimer's disease and will enable new programmes of world leading research.'