Medical New Alzheimer's Treatment Clears Plaques From Brains of Mice Within Hours

[Borg]

I've been reading a bunch of articles in this month's Scientific American on Alzheimer's and ran across this article in a web feed that I subscribe to. The SA articles that I've read so far have touched on issues with the blood-brain barrier but this appears to be a novel approach to the problem - fix the exit ramp and the brain clears out the plaques.
https://www.sciencealert.com/new-alzheimers-treatment-clears-plaques-from-brains-of-mice-within-hours

The original paper:
Rapid amyloid-β clearance and cognitive recovery through multivalent modulation of blood–brain barrier transport

 

[.Scott]

Assuming the mouse is a good model for humans, the very clear implication is that the amyloid deposits are likely normal and the failure of their routine removal is what's pathogenic.

 

[Dale]

Assuming the mouse is a good model for humans

The paper does look very promising. However, it is good to be mindful of the huge pile of promising treatments that have died on this assumption. That said, even if this specific intervention doesn’t pan out, the avenue that it has opened probably has other possibilities too.

 

[Borg]

The paper does look very promising. However, it is good to be mindful of the huge pile of promising treatments that have died on this assumption. That said, even if this specific intervention doesn’t pan out, the avenue that it has opened probably has other possibilities too.

Agree 100%. Even if it fast-tracked, it would be years before it becomes an available treatment. But, if it pans out, it would help millions beyond belief.

 

[jrmichler]

I have been collecting articles and papers on lifestyle vs health. Here's some about dementia:

Healthy lifestyle reduced risk of Alzheimer's by 60%: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/new...le-traits-may-substantially-reduce-alzheimers

Exercise produces hormone that protects against Alzheimer's:
Article: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/ar...ngles-in-the-brain#The-importance-of-exercise
Paper: https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(23)00623-2

Active lifestyle halts memory loss: https://neurosciencenews.com/lifestyle-coach-alzheimers-25258/

Healthy lifestyle protects against dementia, even with beta-amyloid buildup
Article: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/health/healthy-living-dementia-study-wellness/index.html
Paper: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/ja...ccessKey=cd485704-d985-4ea8-87ad-ee110ddaa953

Unfortunately, healthy lifestyle is not a patented drug with a high profit margin, so there is no well funded effort to sell it. But I can do my part. My morning run was 4.4 miles today.

 

[pinball1970]

Looking up COVID numbers last couple of years and was shocked to find that Alzheimer's is the highest cause of death in the UK.

Pre/post COVID I would have gone for the usual suspects, heart disease and cancer.

https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.or...iller-we-need-political-action-to-save-lives/

My morning run was 4.4 miles today

Impressive.

 

[russ_watters]

Healthy lifestyle reduced risk of Alzheimer's by 60%....

Unfortunately, healthy lifestyle is not a patented drug with a high profit margin, so there is no well funded effort to sell it. But I can do my part.

That sounds nice I guess, but it's really not a very big number. Not smoking reduces your odds of lung cancer by around 95%. A measles vaccine reduces your odds of getting measles by around 97%. Being generally healthy and fit is something everyone should be doing because it substantially reduces your risk of a host of problems. But it's not enough, and "not a patented drug with high profit margin" doesn't even make any sense: being fit is essentially free. Who should be spending money on what with that?

 

[russ_watters]

Looking up COVID numbers last couple of years and was shocked to find that Alzheimer's is the highest cause of death in the UK.

Pre/post COVID I would have gone for the usual suspects, heart disease and cancer.

It's 6th on the list in the USA, by a factor of 6 from the leading cause (heart disease). This is almost certainly a matter of different ways of determining/deciding the cause of death between different countries. We had this discussion early-on in COVID: did they die of COVID or just with COVID? Heck, does anyone really even die of dementia? How do you even determine that?

 

[pinball1970]

It's 6th on the list in the USA, by a factor of 6 from the leading cause (heart disease). This is almost certainly a matter of different ways of determining/deciding the cause of death between different countries. We had this discussion early-on in COVID: did they die of COVID or just with COVID? Heck, does anyone really even die of dementia? How do you even determine that?

I had a quick look at this.

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-s...ognising-when-someone-reaching-end-their-life

I do not how pathologists prioritise all these things, it must get complicated when you have an initial underlying condition but eventually die of "something" else "immediate" cause of death.

Loss of brain function/mass can lead to incontinence, UTIs, problems with swallowing, weight loss, dehydration, infections from bed sores, falls, frailty.

Non of which are Alzheimer's but those collective conditions arise from the fact the brain is deteriorating. All of those things happening together progressively in an older person eventually leading to their death.

 

[russ_watters]

Yeah. Full disclosure, this hit home 18 months ago with my father. Late stage Alzheimer's + COVID. He was physically active as long as the ALZ allowed him to be, but was 4-5 years since he was able to go to the gym or jog. Being frail from ALZ was certainly a major contributor. But being very unusually in shape at ~70 didn't prevent him from getting it. Could it have delayed onset? Maybe.