Neurologists fiercely debate whether the amyloid clumps are the cause of the disease--or merely a consequence.
Perhaps, Pei says, exposure to the wrong kind of bacteria, not just acid, is one cause of the disease.
Even after decades of research, the case that amyloid buildup is the main cause of the disease is hardly airtight.
"The cause of the disease may not be new, but the scale at which it is occurring has not been observed in recent years, " the WHO said in an email.
Only in the middle of March did China allow in a team of specialists from the WHO to help work out the cause of the disease and how best to prevent it spreading further.
The cause of Chagas disease is the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to humans from a bite from an insect known as the triatomine bug.
They were valuable in steadying the heart-beat, and in providing clues to the cause of the heart disease, which might then be treated by conventional methods.
The build-up of amyloid is believed to be the cause of this disease.
FORBES: For Pfizer-JNJ Alzheimer's Drug, It May Be Too Late To Try
Experts have a number of hypotheses as to why anxiety and heart disease may be linked, though the new research can't confirm that anxiety -- not some other factor -- is the cause of heart disease and heart attacks in the study.
CNN: Study: Anxiety in youth linked to heart attacks later on
The prevalence of the disease, the leading cause of amputation, more than doubles in this age group.
FORBES: True Religion Leads The 10 Hot Companies Hiring Like Crazy
Cancer is the second leading cause of death by disease in the U.S., surpassed only by heart disease.
FORBES: Great Strides Made In Developing New Medicines For Cancer
Eating contaminated meat or some other animal products from cattle that have bovine spongiform encephalopathy is thought to be the cause of the fatal brain disease in humans that is called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
See, for instance, this case I wrote about a year ago, or this one, in which sequencing the part of the exome that was on the X chromosome allowed scientists to figure out the cause of a genetic disease that was killing young boys in a Utah family.
FORBES: The Future Is Now: 23andMe Now Offers All Your Genes For $999
But TB remains the leading cause of death by infectious disease in the country's adults.
As well as identifying the lupus genes, the study will also attempt to recognise gene patterns that could cause more serious forms of the disease in order to monitor who could have acute problems in the future.
It is not supported by any clinical research evidence that would allow claims to be made that it is the cause of disease or health concerns.
Several more cases of using DNA sequencing, which reads out the 6 billion DNA letters that contain the protein recipes that make one person different from another, to understand the cause of disease have been published.
FORBES: Sequencing A Child's DNA -- And Convincing An Insurance Company To Pay
They were established under a special provision of the bankruptcy code Congress passed just to deal with the millions of lawsuits filed by people who claim to have been exposed to the substance, which can cause lung disease and a rare cancer of the chest wall lining called mesothelioma.
To put it plainly, chronic inflammation can provide the framework for, if not outright cause, a lot of the major chronic disease states.
FORBES: If All Roads Lead to Inflammation, How Do We Get to Health?
It is alleged that the Buffalo Grill chain continued serving beef from Britain after it was banned in the European Union and that this may have been the cause of cases of the human form of mad cow disease (BSE), known as variant CJD.
Yet Venter dreams of a day, a decade or more away, when doctors will routinely and rapidly churn out the individual maps of thousands of patients, spotting the genetic typos that will cause an array of dysfunction and disease.
She said a pill to prevent muscle loss would unfortunately not be able to change the genetic cause of muscular dystrophy, but might slow down the disease progression.
Instead, he claimed, better nutrition, caused by better farming practices, was the chief cause of better disease resistance.
WSJ: Matt Ridley on Infectious Diseases and Standards of Living | Mind & Matter
Professor Michael Shaw, a plant health expert at the University of Reading, who was not involved in the research, said it was a step towards understanding why certain strains of the fungus cause disease while others are benign.
Liver disease, the fifth biggest cause of death in England and Wales behind heart disease, cancer, stroke and respiratory disease, comes in more than 100 forms but is most commonly associated with alcohol abuse, obesity and viral hepatitis.
BBC: Liver damage is 'silent killer' cirrhosis patient warns
While the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1986 recognized that vaccines DO cause disease, it was enacted in order to REDUCE the financial liability of vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits.
FORBES: Extradite Andrew Wakefield To Face Fraud Charges In The UK
Is there another way that gluten may cause disease aside from the well-understood immune mechanisms of celiac disease?
Ten people die every day from unintentional drowning in the United States, making it the fifth-leading cause of unintentional injury death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It doubles the risk of heart disease and stroke, and it is the country's leading cause of adult blindness, kidney failure, and non-traumatic amputations.
Sleep or the lack of it is the cause of minor and major aliments from puffy eyes, weight gain to heart disease.
FORBES: Wellness Advice That Also Applies to Entrepreneurship
应用推荐