A Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease? No, just a long line of late stage treatment failures…
View this post on Hive: A Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease? No, just a long line of late stage treatment failures…
View this post on Hive: A Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease? No, just a long line of late stage treatment failures…
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I am beginning to wonder if Tau would be a better target then A-Beta with regards to druggability. Perhaps the formation of neurofibliary tangles are a more significant contributor to disease progression then is accumulation of the a-beta plaques. The axovant drug was not targeting either, it was trying to stimulate 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors in an attempt to mask symptoms, rather than treat the underlying cause. So its failure is separate from my own concerns... alzheimers is not an easy disease to crack that is for certain.
Thanks for the comment!
I am no expert, but certainly it seems that the correlation between A-beta and symptoms is weak at best and so there must be a lot more going on.
From what I read a fair amount of research is now focused on combination therapies targeting a number of different pathways - which makes sense in terms of moving things forward, but unfortunately I imagine only in small incremental steps.
But for sure, something is better than nothing and if you learn something from those steps then eventually the right path will show itself...
Cheers
The correlation between A-beta and symptoms is fantastic, it's why so many have been targeting it. Unfortunately those drugs modulating the plaque formation never seem to have the effecacy that we want, nor do they repeat the results we observe from them in animal models. It's odd. It's amazing just how much money has been poured into Alzheimer's (tens to hundreds of billions at this point) for such little progress to have been made.
Yeah, sorry, I am confusing myself now trying to do too many things at once - could be early onset Alzheimer's...
Sounds like you know your stuff!! More than I do at least 😁
Thanks for the comments!
Cheers
And thank you for the great post! Looking forward to what you have to bring to the table in the future :)
Thanks, will look for something healthcare next week. I try to do min one healthcare and one beer post per week. Beer today naturally...
Cheers
Sad to know that there is no treatment yet for Alzheimer. As the father of an autistic son, I have always prayed for a cure for autism and hopefully it will be in my lifetime.
I can imagine - still a long way to go in science / healthcare!!
Thanks for commenting
Nice post, thanks for the info. One thing I have pondered for over a year (and I work with a lot of Alzheimer's and Dementia sufferers) is that this is the typical pit of 'correlation vs. causation'. A while back they identified the plaques and tangles and put their fingers firmly on Tau & beta-Amyloids as a source for treatment... however just because they are there, they are not necessarily the cause.
I skimmed though the comments and saw inflammation mentioned, and this is a very important issue. In the last 10 years neuroinflammation and exaggerated/chronic immune responses are surfacing as strong factors in neurodevelopmental disorders.
Add to that the recent discovery of a lymphatic vessel network within the brain that is capable of overcoming the blood-brain barrier, that can allow large proteins in the form of pathogens, allergens and other irritants in the brain and you have a cocktail for a whole new set of discoveries. I am really encouraged by the fact neuroimmunology and the relationship between brain and bowel is starting to be made as well. I think we are facing a layer cake and we have only tucked into the icing on top... It will be many decades before we can say we have really cracked neuropathology.
Upvoted for sure.
Thanks for the v insightful comment!
I agree that we are very much at the beginning - and I think that applies to biotech in general. I really do believe that the next 20 years will be a golden era and in 2030 or so we will look back in amazement at how little we know right now
Cheers
This disease is probably one of the most heartbreaking affliction. 💔 To forget your loved ones... I can't even think about it. Hope they find a way to slow or reverse it soon.
Very true. I have been fortunate so far with my relatives. But unfortunately it is only a matter of time, and no cure in sight yet - very difficult trials to conduct - but eventually there will be new treatments
@holbein81 - Thanks for this exhaustive coverage on Alzheimer's. I have seen a relative suffer from it and as you have pointed out, it was sad to see him not recognizing even his own son or wife.
Hope a cure materializes some time soon.
Upvoted
Regards,
@vm2904
Thanks for the comment! I have been lucky so far with my relatives - sure hope it stays that way
The biggest thing is you have to battle inflammation and provide alternative fuel sources. ALZ brains are very insulin resistant so providing alternative fuel sources like ketones can be a great idea. Dr. Mary Newport is doing a lot of awesome stuff with Alzheimer's and coconut oil!
Alzheimer's has no cure, so in my view patients should try anything they can get their hands on that they feel helps, proven or not - that's what I would do!
Thanks for commenting
Thanks for reading, and for the resteem!
You are most welcome
It's a terrifying disease, but we all won't get it- only about 10% of dementia cases are Alzheimer's related. That's still a huge number of people, however.
Hey @mountainwashere, thanks for commenting!
Where did you get the 10% number from? I had always thought of Alzheimer's as by far the most common cause of dementia, and numbers I see quote it as causing between 60-80% of cases - e.g. here:
http://www.dementia.com/causes.html
http://www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp
No, we won't all get it, but only because we will die of something else first - that's what I mean when I wrote that 'all of us, if we live long enough, will get it'.
And of course the population is ageing year on year due to advances in other areas, which is driving up the number of people who do get it before dying of something else
Cheers
My numbers might be wrong- can't recall where I saw them. I'll do some doublechecking.
No drama, don't worry about it
Unfortunately even 1% is way too many...