Brain inflammation may be friend, not foe, for Alzheimer's patients

Inflammation in the brain may not be so bad after all when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease.In the June 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a team of scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center shows that a key inflammatory regulator, a known villain when it comes to parsing out damage after a stroke and other brain injuries, seems to do the opposite in Alzheimer’s disease, protecting the brain and helping get rid of clumps of material known as plaques that are a hallmark of the disease.