On the Trail of A Cure for Alzheimer's
Jul
18
Written by:
7/18/2012 5:33 PM
About one in twenty people over age 60 in the United States and the rest of the western world will develop some sort of dementia if they live long enough. About two-thirds of these dementias will be of the Alzheimer’s sort. The prevalence of Alzheimer’s continues to grow - in fact doubling every five years after the age of 65 - to the point that at age 90, the prevalence is about one in four individuals with the condition. In research reported over the years, Alzheimer’s or other dementias tend to be more frightening to people as they age than just about any other medical condition.
Scientists in Iceland have isolated a gene that helps the brain to protect itself against beta-amyloid which is the chemical that seems to open the brain to the degeneration of Alzheimer’s. The gene does not appear to be related to the actual cause of Alzheimer’s but when this gene is expressed, it lowers the production of beta amyloid in humans. Only about one in a hundred actually have this protective gene, but the scientists are at work trying to identify ways to put this new knowledge to use.
In other research, scientists have found still other genes which may be linked to over-production of beta amyloid. These genes understandably put people with the gene at particularly high risk for developing Alzheimer’s. The combined insights of these two separate studies and others suggest that working with ways to suppress the production, perhaps genetic ways to do this, will be effective in staving off the onset of Alzheimer’s. This latter research suggests that testing people to see who has the gene will help to identify the candidates for therapies that apply learnings from the other research to more effectively protect people before the Alzheimer’s even begins to manifest itself.
Both of these new research findings have a lot of people very excited about the promise of better, early diagnosis as well as means by which genetic manipulation might also slow the progression or perhaps even stop Alzheimer’s in its tracks. Given that it takes easily seven to ten years for the FDA-required tests and approval for a new drug, we do not have a cure at hand, but it does seem that a lot of very smart people are on the right track.
If you want to read more about what the scientists in Iceland have found, the journal
Nature carries their story. The other body of research has been recently reported in the
New England Journal of Medicine.
Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Case Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to
Charlotte Bishop.
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