With incidences of Alzheimer’s in individuals above 65 years of age increasing, researchers are racing to find a cure. And according to a study that appeared this week in Nature Scientific Reports, they are pretty close this time. Molecular biologists Diana Pisa, Luis Carrasco, and colleagues studied 25 cadavers, 14 of which belonged to people with Alzheimer’s and found astonishingly that all 14 of them had fungal infections.

If this were the answer and the cause- brain fungus, the several treatments available could potentially stop Alzheimer’s.

The problem is that fungus can’t explain all cases of dementia, as The Economist points out:

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John Hardy, a neuroscientist at University College, London, points out that one (albeit rare) cause of Alzheimer’s is well-understood. In a few unlucky families the disease appears to be an inherited disorder, caused by mutations of one of three genes. If a fungal infection were the ultimate cause, then those genetic mutations would have to make their carriers so susceptible that 100% of them end up infected, something he believes is unlikely. And the very clarity of Dr Carrasco’s result also makes Dr Hardy suspicious.

If that result is right, though, it is still possible that the correlation runs the other way, with Alzheimer’s opening the brain to fungal infection.

That being said, like cancer, Alzheimer’s could have many causes- genetic, chemical and physical. There would be countless therapies to treat different causes and many different routes to pursue. But for now, just one confirmed method would be great.

Author:Technology Blog