Early in Alzheimer’s disease, your brain can begin to change long before anyone notices a lost name or missed appointment. Toxic proteins quietly collect inside cells, support cells turn restless, and inflammation smolders in the background. By the time memory problems show up, much of this damage is already in motion. A new study from Northwestern University suggests that this early window may be your best chance to fight back. The team has uncovered a previously hidden, highly toxic form of amyloid beta and shown that an experimental drug, called NU-9, can sharply reduce its impact in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. A Silent Disease That Starts Decades Earlier Alzheimer’s does not start when you first feel confused. It begins many years earlier as small clusters of amyloid beta, called oligomers, build up inside neurons and support cells. These clusters are thought to be more damaging than the larger plaques that appear later. ACU193 and NU4 probe different amyloid beta oligomer subtypes in subiculum of 12-week mice; ACU193+ puncta predominate. (CREDIT: Alzheimer’s & Dementia) …