[Lewis Allsopp]
Hello and welcome. This is ‘For a Better Tomorrow’ the University of Derby's Innovation and Research podcast, with me Lewis Allsopp. Each episode is a chat with someone in academia about the innovation and research they're working on which is going to make our lives better. Now previously I've spoken to researchers about topics like how can mirrors help us to make solar energy more efficient and how we can use computers to help us understand the world. But today I want to talk to you about Alzheimer's. My Grandad had it and as horrible as it was, it often felt like he couldn't have done anything to help it. But what if now new research is finding ways that we could, using proteins. Well, today I'm joined by Professor Myra Conway whose Theme Lead in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Derby. Thank you so much for coming over. Before we get into all of that just tell me a bit about yourself first of all.
[Myra Conway]
So I'm a biochemist by trade and I've got a background of over 20 years of experience in biomedical research. I come from Cork in Ireland and I worked for five years in the US as a research fellow studying the structure-function, relationship with proteins – something that really excited me. I then travelled back to the UK and I started my career as a lecturer and progressed through lecturer, senior lecturer, and Associate Prof all the way through in biomedical science.
[Lewis Allsopp]
Lovely. Very briefly, to start off and then we'll expand on it. What's the focus of your research?
[Myra Conway]
So I have a number of different projects that I'm interested in and they largely span the understanding of how mechanisms underpin disease pathology. And the two main diseases that we're looking at in our group are Alzheimer's disease which is a form of dementia and breast cancer. So very much understanding the ways that these disease progress in the human body. As an aside to that we also look at biomarkers, so markers that might appear in blood or urine or CSF for example, which can indicate the transition from early-stage disease to late-onset.
[Lewis Allsopp]
So these are the things I suppose that are the warning signs aren't they they're the orange light before we get to red of these terrible debilitating diseases. But it's about I suppose catching them early. My Granddad and Alzheimer's so I want to talk a little bit about that - what are you working on at the moment in your research with Alzheimer's?
[Myra Conway]
So with respect to Alzheimer's, we're looking at how dietary proteins and dietary nutrition can alter these mechanisms in the brain. We're really keen to understand the relationship between your gut health and your brain health. So fundamentally we're trying to understand the mechanisms or pathways that clear clogged-up protein in the brain. So in Alzheimer's disease when somebody progresses into the end stage of the condition, if you look down a microscope at a section of a brain, you will see that there's clumps or aggregates in the brains of these individuals. So what we're trying to do and understand is how these clumps gather and build-up, and can we unpick the stages at by which this happens and control it through changes in our diet.
[Lewis Allsopp]
Now when you say protein, and apologies for being ignorant. I think of you know a steak for tea on Friday.
[Myra Conway]
Yeah, I know.
[Lewis Allsopp]
Is that what you're talking about?
[Myra Conway]
You know what, the concept can be really hard to describe. So you are absolutely right, in your dietary meal, so if you eat your steak, for example, you have that protein present and that's built up smaller component parts called amino acids. So when you eat that steak and you digest it, it's broken down into these smaller parts, and these then flow from your gut into your bloodstream. And these now are those smaller parts. But then in your body, all of these elements are repackaged if you like, into functional units called proteins in your body. These carry out different functions.
[Lewis Allsopp]
So, there's no steak traveling around your body?
[Myra Conway]
No there isn't - well actually this is a form of, it’s broken down into pieces.
[Lewis Allsopp]
So obviously your research looking at Alzheimer's and the way that proteins, these little clumps, sort of form in your brain and develop and almost cause the early stages. Is it to do with what you eat or is it sort of like an involuntary reaction?
[Myra Conway]
No, so there are a number of different theories as to how these clumps and aggregates form. There's a genetic component which they believe represents about one to five percent of cases - so if you carry that gene then you would present early, so around anything from the age of 30 to 40 to 50. So these are considered early onset dementia, whereas those in the late onset which can present from any age from 65 to 70 onwards, this is late on set.
The causes of the disease and are considered to be multi-component or multi-factorial, they don't know exactly what causes the disease. However what they do know is, is that there's a change in the processing or the pathway or the mechanism, whereby normally these toxic components are cleared from the brain, but in Alzheimer's disease they are no longer cleared - there's something wrong with that clearance mechanism. And also with the whole processing of that protein, so the protein keeps being built up and is not being cleared. I liken it to recycling okay, so if you take your recycling at home. We go to, you know, you go to your recycling bins - you've got your plastics your cardboards so on and so forth. So we package these up and we distribute them into your bin bags or whatnot - that's what the cell does as well. So it packages up these components in the cell that it no longer needs or it may re-utilize it or repurpose it, just like our recycling does. So, some components are going to be discarded because they definitely don't want them, but some components will be recycled and repackaged into new things that the cell can use - just like we use our recycling. So in the case of Alzheimer's disease, that recycling process is no longer functional.
[Lewis Allsopp]
So we just we become hoarders?
[Myra Conway]
That's a great way of describing it. Yeah we actually become hoarders. Yeah well the cells do, they think they're kind of hanging on to this stuff that they don't really need.
[Lewis Allsopp]
So what have you found or what are you looking to find? What is your sort of end goal with this research?
[Myra Conway]
We've already evidenced to indicate that there are certain components of a diet that can change the direction of this clearance pathway and we've shown it in models. So there are ways to represent what may be going on in the human brain. What I'd love to do is take those models and translate them to an actual human, you know, outcome. Such that if we have a better understanding how these components of our diet change these clearance mechanisms in the brain, can we um include as part of your treatment regime or even as part of a normal diet, do we consider x amount of a particular, you know, nutritional supplement to help us improve the clearance or the getting rid of this build up of this these plaques in your brain.
[Lewis Allsopp]
So in the real world I suppose we hear a lot about, you know, people with certain types of cancers and how say smoking can help to contribute to gaining lung cancer I suppose. I suppose this is a very similar look we get a pathway that you know eating this may cause this or whatever, is that what you're sort of trying to understand?
[Myra Conway]
It's not because, it's more control. So it's regulation. So if we take for example diabetes or cardiovascular disease, so a lot has understood about those pathways and how that occurs especially the heart disease element. We know that if we have a diet that will end result in that plaque formation in in the vessels of the heart, that will contribute to cardiovascular disease. Similarly with respect to diabetes that has two forms your type 1 and your type 2 form, but that's all about controlling your glucose levels. But it's also about controlling your triglycerides, so your fats and and your proteins actually so they're all interlinked. And interestingly enough, recent studies have demonstrated that those with type 2 diabetes so, and more so in the uncontrolled, so if you're not controlling your diabetes well, there's got a 50 increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. That together with cardiovascular conditions, it indicates that dietary, or lifestyle choices so it's not just diet it's about your lifestyle as well so exercise, you know and how you know keeping your brain active, so it's not about your physical muscles it's also about your cognitive muscles. Are you keeping that exercised? So collectively diet exercise that will fundamentally improve not just to your body health, which we normally associate it, with but also your brain health. Because that is not really out there I think as much as it should be. We're kind of interested in the concept healthy heart, healthy brain and that's an element that we would like to I think encourage folks to think about.
[Lewis Allsopp]
How does this affect someone like me? So I'm a young person just starting my adult life, will this change how as a society we sort of react to Alzheimer's disease and actually can prevent it?
[Myra Conway]
It's not preventing because we still don't know enough about these pathways however what it could do is potentially delay disease onset. So you're actually very right for somebody who are in their early 20s, 30s, you do need to be thinking about brain health because in Alzheimer's disease what the current thinking in the research community is at least, is that the disease is starting decades before it actually clinically presents. So before somebody shows mild cognitive impairment, so the damage is already being done. It's the exact same as your heart a lot of people don't find out they've got cardiovascular disease until they present with the myocardial infarction. So those are things we do need to consider so yes you absolutely should be thinking of your brain health.
[Lewis Allsopp]
So what are things that we can do now? If it's someone my age, is there anything that I can do now that will that will help me out?
[Myra Conway]
At this moment in time, exactly what I said healthy heart healthy diet, exercise, they certainly won't be a bad thing. And it's no harm for people to think about it in the context of their brain as well as you know the rest of their body.
[Lewis Allsopp]
In a couple of sentences would you mind just summing up? I know it's very difficult, just summing up your research what you want to what you want to find?
[Myra Conway]
I would really like to find how a dietary supplement or intervention can delay disease onset in Alzheimer's disease.
[Lewis Allsopp]
Do you think you'll do it?
[Myra Conway]
Oh gosh yes! I am I'm actually really confident yeah.
[Lewis Allsopp]
That's good, that's good. Like I said, it's like it's a subject that's close to my heart with my Grandad having dementia/Alzheimer's. It's something that has always been seen to me I suppose, as something that he couldn't help do you know what I mean? So if there's something that we can do to help it with this research and I think that's amazing. Thank you very much for talking to me.
[Myra Conway]
Pleasure.
[Lewis Allsopp]
That is Professor Myra Conway, the Theme Lead in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Derby. And that is it for today's episode of ‘For a Better Tomorrow’ the University of Derby's Innovation and Research podcast. In other episodes, I've looked at the research answering questions like why inter-business relationships are so important to our daily lives and why is singing so good for us. So be sure to check them out wherever you get your podcasts and follow the University @Derbyuni I'll see you next time, bye-bye.
‘For a better tomorrow’ was presented by me, Lewis Allsopp and produced by myself and Dr Daithí McMahon in the School of Arts for the University of Derby.
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