Researchers find a hint at how to delay Alzheimer's symptoms. Now they have to prove it
An experimental treatment appears to delay Alzheimer맥스카지노s symptoms in some people genetically destined to get the disease in their 40s or 50s, according to new findings from ongoing research now caught up in Trump administration funding delays.
The early results 맥스카지노 a scientific first 맥스카지노 were published Wednesday even as study participants worried that politics could cut their access to a possible lifeline.
맥스카지노It맥스카지노s still a study but it has given me an extension to my life that I never banked on having,맥스카지노 said Jake Heinrichs of New York City.
Now 50, Heinrichs has been treated in that study for more than a decade and remains symptom-free despite inheriting an Alzheimer맥스카지노s-causing gene that killed his father and brother around the same age.
If blocked funding stops Heinrichs맥스카지노 doses, 맥스카지노how much time do we have?맥스카지노 asked his wife, Rachel Chavkin. 맥스카지노This trial is life.맥스카지노
Two drugs sold in the U.S. can modestly slow worsening of early-stage Alzheimer맥스카지노s by clearing the brain of one of its hallmarks, a sticky gunk called amyloid. But until now, there haven't been hints that removing amyloid far earlier 맥스카지노 many years before the first symptoms appear 맥스카지노 just might postpone the disease.
The research led by Washington University in St. Louis involves families that pass down rare gene mutations almost guaranteeing they맥스카지노ll develop symptoms at the same age their affected relatives did 맥스카지노 information that helps scientists tell if treatments are having any effect.
The new findings center on a subset of 22 participants who received amyloid-removing drugs the longest, on average eight years. Long-term amyloid removal cut in half their risk of symptom onset, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Lancet Neurology.
Despite the study맥스카지노s small size, 맥스카지노it맥스카지노s incredibly important,맥스카지노 said Northwestern University neuroscientist David Gate, who wasn맥스카지노t involved with the research.
Now participants have been switched from an earlier experimental drug to Leqembi, an IV treatment approved in the U.S., to try to answer the obvious next question.
맥스카지노What we want to determine over the next five years is how strong is the protection,맥스카지노 said Washington University맥스카지노s Dr. Randall Bateman, who directs the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer맥스카지노s Network of studies involving families with these rare genes. 맥스카지노Will they ever get the symptoms of Alzheimer맥스카지노s disease if we keep treating them?맥스카지노
Here맥스카지노s the worry: Bateman raised money to start that confirmatory study while seeking National Institutes of Health funding for the full project but his grant has been delayed as required reviews were canceled. It's one example of how millions of dollars in research have been stalled as NIH grapples with funding restrictions and mass firings.
At the same time researchers wonder if NIH will shift focus away from amyloid research after comments by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, nominated as the agency's new director.
맥스카지노One of the reasons I think that we have not made progress in Alzheimer맥스카지노s, as much as we ought to have, is because the NIH has not supported a sufficiently wide range of hypotheses,맥스카지노 Bhattacharya told senators, responding to one who brought up an example of earlier science misconduct unrelated to current research.
Scientists don맥스카지노t know exactly what causes Alzheimer맥스카지노s, a mind-destroying disease that affects nearly 7 million Americans, mostly late in life. What맥스카지노s clear is that silent changes occur in the brain at least two decades before the first symptoms -- and that sticky amyloid is a major contributor. At some point amyloid buildup appears to trigger a protein named tau to begin killing neurons, which drives cognitive decline.
Tau-fighting drugs now are being tested. Researchers also are studying other factors including inflammation, the brain맥스카지노s immune cells and certain viruses.
NIH맥스카지노s focus expanded as researchers found more potential culprits. In 2013, NIH맥스카지노s National Institute on Aging funded 14 trials of possible Alzheimer맥스카지노s drugs, over a third targeting amyloid. By last fall, there were 68 drug trials and about 18% targeted amyloid.
Northwestern맥스카지노s Gate counts himself among scientists who 맥스카지노think amyloid isn맥스카지노t everything,맥스카지노 but said nothing has invalidated the amyloid hypothesis. He recently used brain tissue preserved from an old amyloid study to learn how immune cells called microglia can clear those plaques and then switch to helping the brain heal, possible clues for improving today's modest therapies.
For now, amyloid clearly is implicated somehow and families with Alzheimer's-causing genes are helping answer a critical question for anyone at risk: Can blocking amyloid buildup really stave off symptoms? Without NIH funding, Bateman said, that opportunity will be lost.
맥스카지노It맥스카지노s absolutely insane,맥스카지노 said longtime study participant June Ward, who lives near Asheville, North Carolina, and plans to ask friends to complain to lawmakers.
Ward turns 64 in June and is healthy, two years older than when her mother's symptoms appeared. 맥스카지노It is exciting to think about the possibility that Alzheimer맥스카지노s disease might not be what gets me,맥스카지노 she said.
In New York, Heinrichs said he has hope that his 3-year-old son won맥스카지노t 맥스카지노experience the stress and sorrow that I lived through as a young man to watch my father fade away.맥스카지노
맥스카지노We need the NIH to be not politicized,맥스카지노 added Chavkin, his wife. 맥스카지노It맥스카지노s just about keeping people alive or helping them live better. And in this case, it맥스카지노s helping my husband survive.맥스카지노