RESEARCHERS from the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) may have given the world a major break in the search to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease, a brain disorder leading to loss of memory.

Its findings on the causes of a build-up of plaque in the brain resulting in Alzheimer's, were published in the highly reputed Nature Cell Biology journal earlier this month, reported The Straits Times.

Alzheimer's hits one in 100 people over the age of 65, and one in 10 of those aged 85 and above.

The 14-member team, led by Associate Professor Xiao Zhi Cheng from SGH's clinical research department and the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, discovered why the brain produces self-destructive activity.

After seven years of work, the team discovered that the plaque is a by-product of a natural regenerative process in the brain.

Brain cells are hives of activity. Each time a protein known as APP in a brain cell is cut by an enzyme, one part of the protein goes into building new brain cells, while another part leaves the cell and turns into plaque which damages the brain.

This process is necessary for the brain to grow. Although the plaque produced at a younger age does not appear to do any damage, it starts accumulating and disrupts vital brain functions in later years.

The illness, discovered exactly 100 years ago, is a highly debilitating disease for which a cure has not been found to date.

Professor Fong Kok Yong, SGH's chairman of research, praised the discovery for its "great potential significance", but added that more work is needed "before we can discuss the potential for drug development".