When we suffer prolonged stress, steroids increase in the blood, including allopreganolone , a substance derived from progesterone that previous studies link with anxiety and depression. As Sara K. Bengtsson, from Umea University (Switzerland) has shown, this substance accelerates the development of Alzheimer's in mice , which also suffer a rapid deterioration of the ability to learn and memory when these substances are increased.
On the other hand, the increase in steroids increases the levels of beta-amyloid proteins, typical of Alzheimer's, which in turn cause the synapses – the communication between neurons – to function improperly , as Bengtsson explains in his doctoral thesis.
