Anesthesia Or Hypothermia: Warning For Alzheimer's Patients
Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 11:53
in Health & Medicine
Scientists have shown that a protein associated with Alzheimer's (called "tau") builds up in brain cells at an increased rate when temperatures fall, such as when a patient is anesthetized or experiences hypothermia. This finding should be of immediate concern to surgeons, dentists and any other health care professionals who anesthetize patients with Alzheimer's or patients at an elevated risk for the disease.