Leading Alzheimer's Research From 2006 Is Possibly Fraudulent, Per New Report

We've been led to believe that Alzheimer's is best treated with pharmaceuticals that have been created as a result of research into the disease that causes significant memory loss. But Science magazine just released an in-depth article that points to a 2006 study of Alzheimer's disease—it turns out the research conducted in this study has likely been fabricated in order to doctor information about the cause of Alzheimer's.

Leading Alzheimer's Research from 2006 Is Possibly Fraudulent, Per New Report

Sylvain Lesné, a neuroscientist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, led research on an assembly of proteins related to Alzheimer's disease. Science magazine found that more than 20 of Lesné's papers included over 70 instances of image tampering.

Many were led to believe that the amyloid beta protein created sticky plaques in the brain that were the main cause of Alzheimer's, and Lesné's 2006 study identified a subtype of the protein called Aβ*56 (or "amyloid beta star 56") as the main cause of memory loss. However, Science magazine claims it found evidence proving that the images of Aβ*56 were doctored to make the protein's role seem more significant than it actually was in the progression of Alzheimer's.

Karl Herrup, a professor of neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute who wasn’t involved in the investigation, said the findings are "really bad for science."

"It's never shameful to be wrong in science," Herrup said. "A lot of the best science was done by people being wrong and proving first if they were wrong and then why they were wrong. What is completely toxic to science is to be fraudulent."

Scientists also found that Lesné's results in the 2006 study couldn't be replicated, and replication is crucial in order to validate a scientist's findings. Dr. Karen Ashe is a neuroscientist and professor at the University of Minnesota, and she co-authored the paper with Lesné. She expressed great disappointment in learning that part of a study she worked on had been doctored.

"Having worked for decades to understand the cause of Alzheimer disease, so that better treatments can be found for patients, it is devastating to discover that a co-worker may have misled me and the scientific community through the doctoring of images," she said.

The University of Minnesota Medical School is aware of this potential fraud and announced in a statement that they will "follow its processes to review the questions any claims have raised."

Sadly, there are millions of elderly around the country who have been placed on pharmaceuticals to treat Alzheimer's, the same pharmaceuticals that were created on the basis of Lesné's research. Nutrition expert and author Max Lugavere points out that 99.6% of Alzheimer's drug trials are a failure, and it could very well be because the drug was built on doctored science.