Medical Discovery of the decade? Injection 'could cure Alzheimer's in minutes'

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers around the claims made by a clinic regarding the treatment of Alzheimer's disease using etanercept, a TNF-alpha inhibitor. The clinic asserts that 90 percent of patients respond to the treatment within minutes, showcasing videos of patients, including an 82-year-old man, who reportedly show significant cognitive improvements shortly after receiving the injection. Critics express skepticism about the rapidity of these improvements, suggesting that the study lacks proper controls and raises concerns about the accuracy of patient diagnoses. An editorial referenced indicates that improvements typically occur over a longer period, contradicting the clinic's claims. The treatment's scientific rationale is discussed, highlighting the role of TNF-alpha in various neurological processes. However, it is noted that large-scale studies validating the treatment's efficacy are still lacking. Overall, the conversation reflects a mix of hope for new Alzheimer's treatments and caution regarding the claims made by the clinic.
SF
Real or what?
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/health/article3603996.ece?a=3603996

They claim 90 per cent respond to the treatment, usually within minutes, and have released videos of patients to prove it.


In one, a nurse sits down with an 82-year-old patient, Marvin Millar, who frowns and mumbles incoherently as she asks him identify everyday objects such as a bracelet and a pencil, which he is unable to do.


But five minutes after being injected with etanercept – according to the film which was supplied and edited by the clinic – he greets his wife. Visibly shocked, she says he has not recognised her for years. Mr Miller then hugs her.


In a separate interview, also supplied by the clinic, she describes his improvements four weeks later, saying he makes sense 90 per cent of the time now, compared with none of the time before treatment started.
 
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Biology news on Phys.org
I was sure I had a discussion on this already, but can't find any prior threads on it. Maybe it was someplace else. What I recall was digging up the original article and not being particular impressed by the so-called "improvement" in a poorly controlled study. Or maybe there were some issues as to whether the patients were correctly diagnosed with Alzheimer disease. I need to dig around more to remember where I've read this and commented on it before so I don't do all that a second time.

Edit: Here's an older editorial on it. It certainly isn't talking about improvements as rapid as 5 min, which sounds completely unrealistic, but more over the course of a month of treatment.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1785212
 
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Moonbear said:
I was sure I had a discussion on this already, but can't find any prior threads on it. Maybe it was someplace else. What I recall was digging up the original article and not being particular impressed by the so-called "improvement" in a poorly controlled study. Or maybe there were some issues as to whether the patients were correctly diagnosed with Alzheimer disease. I need to dig around more to remember where I've read this and commented on it before so I don't do all that a second time.

Edit: Here's an older editorial on it. It certainly isn't talking about improvements as rapid as 5 min, which sounds completely unrealistic, but more over the course of a month of treatment.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1785212


Here's a page seems to give the treatment details and rationale behind them. This is from the Institute for Neurological Research itself... (a private medical group).

The Tobinick Method™ for treatment of Alzheimer's Disease at the INR®: outline of the scientific rationale

http://www.nrimed.com/physician.html
 
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It's interesting that it's supposedly a TNF-alpha inhibitor. TNF-alpha seems to be a very versatile molecule, I'm hearing about it being implicated in everything from synaptic plasticity to inflammation, and growth control / apoptosis.
 
Cincinnatus said:
It's interesting that it's supposedly a TNF-alpha inhibitor. TNF-alpha seems to be a very versatile molecule, I'm hearing about it being implicated in everything from synaptic plasticity to inflammation, and growth control / apoptosis.

Where are you hearing this?
 
Where are you hearing this

There are hundreds if not thousands of articles about TNF-alpha. Try searching on pubmed, it's all there.
 
In Britain we can already cure Alzheimers by simply releasing the vicim from prison - within a few weeks they are fully recovered and able to run internaioanl companies.
 
Cincinnatus said:
There are hundreds if not thousands of articles about TNF-alpha. Try searching on pubmed, it's all there.


Thank you. Here's another promo/report about this from medscape.com They pretty well say that there have been no large studies done with this therapy, yet.

Anti-TNF-alpha Therapy Produces Rapid Improvement in Alzheimer's Disease

Caroline Cassels

January 15, 2008 — Perispinal etanercept (Enbrel, Amgen), an anticytokine therapy that targets excess tumor necrosis factor–alpha (TNF-α) in the brain, has been shown to produce almost immediate cognitive and behavioral improvement in a patient with moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD).

If confirmed in larger studies, researchers say these findings may herald a major breakthrough in the treatment of the condition, which currently affects about 5 million Americans and 27 million individuals worldwide.

Etanercept®, which was approved for human use in 1998 for the initial indication of rheumatoid arthritis, is currently used to treat a wide variety of inflammatory disorders in which TNF-α is thought to play a role.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/568812
 

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