5 ms·

Scientists discover why many Alzheimer’s drugs fail, identify one that may work

65 points by tomduncalf 8y ago

modzu 8y ago
i've been reading this same headline every year for 5 years :(
- kjullien 8y ago
  Must mean we're getting close !
  - wpasc 8y ago
    People tend to dislike sarcasm on HN. I, on the other hand, appreciate it when it is well used. You've earned my upvote sir (or ma'am)
- neuromantik8086 8y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZL3YFWiayU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZL3YFWiayU
elcritch 8y ago
Terrible article reinforcing bad science. The claim “beta-amyloid – which causes the brain degeneration in Alzheimer’s” is a speculative hypothesis at best. sigh
- Filligree 8y ago
  To expand on that: Beta-amyloid plaques are correlated with Alzheimer's, but of course correlation is not causation. Among the many alternate theories is one that it's a defense against a viral infection, so I wouldn't go and eat anti-plaque medication just yet.
  - jodrellblank 8y ago
    This article claims otherwise: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201611/no-known-expiration-date https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201611/no-known-... "Recent studies show that the plaques of amyloid proteins that accumulate between brain cells and the tangles of tau proteins that cluster within brain cells, both considered a signature of Alzheimer’s, also occur in many who have no memory loss—and are absent in 35 to 40 percent of those who, by neuropsychological testing, do. There’s no correlation between the presence of plaques and cognitive function." and "an earthquake of emerging evidence that cognitive impairment shows itself only after decades of decay in the processes that power our brain cells," and "Much research suggests that at its core, Alzheimer’s disease—and garden variety cognitive decline—may be a metabolic disorder, a perturbation in fuel use by the brain, a process that loses efficiency with age and is inherently influenced by what we eat" and "Her studies of clinically and cognitively normal men and women in their 40s and 50s show that even in middle age, the brain areas and functions most vulnerable to disruption by Alzheimer’s pathology are already being affected by diet, in ways that implicate typical American consumption patterns. Mosconi doesn’t view Alzheimer’s as a disease of old age: “It’s a lifelong process that starts young and reaches a tipping point only after age 50.”"
    - elcritch 8y ago
      Even worse! There's quite a fair amount of research indicating that the earlier reports of correlations of the plaques and Alzheimer’s is not causative. In addition the older research showing correlation between Alzheimer and amyloid/tau plaques really is coming under more scrutiny (as the PT article points out) as the plaques don't appear to relate to cognitive decline. Though of course, the parent article has some chance of having a correct or partially correct hypothesis as say plaque correlations only appear in a subset of a genetic population and AZ is two distinct disease mechanisms with different etiologies. It's like the issue with statin's... a decent working hypothesis (but barely flushed out past first year grad school research) gets postulated and scooped up by the media. Then drug companies and publicly funded researchers spend billions research interventionist drugs. Often without due diligence on the fundamental scientific hypothesis -- good luck getting a grant on testing that when they hype cycle is full on. Then you're left with an enormous amount of money spent with debatable long term societal effects [1, 2, 3]. I wonder if SV and VC getting more into medicine if these trends will get better or worse. Though it's still possible that there's no way to discover the longer term effect of cholesterol and statins unless you spend a few billion. But surely, there's got to be better ways. 1: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/828448/statins-warning-heart-medicine-fail-harms-health-study-reveals https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/828448/statins-w... 2: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513492/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513492/ 3: http://www.statinnation.net/blog/2018/1/8/quzr8nj3k9v23at4fe1k4bwcuvwi91 http://www.statinnation.net/blog/2018/1/8/quzr8nj3k9v23at4fe...
jwineinger 8y ago
Would someone be able to do a study on people who have already been on this drug and see if they get Alzheimer's at a lower rate than the general population?

65 points by tomduncalf 8y ago

modzu 8y ago

i've been reading this same headline every year for 5 years :(

kjullien 8y ago
Must mean we're getting close !
- wpasc 8y ago
  People tend to dislike sarcasm on HN. I, on the other hand, appreciate it when it is well used. You've earned my upvote sir (or ma'am)
neuromantik8086 8y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZL3YFWiayU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZL3YFWiayU

elcritch 8y ago

Terrible article reinforcing bad science. The claim “beta-amyloid – which causes the brain degeneration in Alzheimer’s” is a speculative hypothesis at best. sigh

Filligree 8y ago
To expand on that: Beta-amyloid plaques are correlated with Alzheimer's, but of course correlation is not causation. Among the many alternate theories is one that it's a defense against a viral infection, so I wouldn't go and eat anti-plaque medication just yet.
- jodrellblank 8y ago
  This article claims otherwise: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201611/no-known-expiration-date https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201611/no-known-... "Recent studies show that the plaques of amyloid proteins that accumulate between brain cells and the tangles of tau proteins that cluster within brain cells, both considered a signature of Alzheimer’s, also occur in many who have no memory loss—and are absent in 35 to 40 percent of those who, by neuropsychological testing, do. There’s no correlation between the presence of plaques and cognitive function." and "an earthquake of emerging evidence that cognitive impairment shows itself only after decades of decay in the processes that power our brain cells," and "Much research suggests that at its core, Alzheimer’s disease—and garden variety cognitive decline—may be a metabolic disorder, a perturbation in fuel use by the brain, a process that loses efficiency with age and is inherently influenced by what we eat" and "Her studies of clinically and cognitively normal men and women in their 40s and 50s show that even in middle age, the brain areas and functions most vulnerable to disruption by Alzheimer’s pathology are already being affected by diet, in ways that implicate typical American consumption patterns. Mosconi doesn’t view Alzheimer’s as a disease of old age: “It’s a lifelong process that starts young and reaches a tipping point only after age 50.”"
  - elcritch 8y ago
    Even worse! There's quite a fair amount of research indicating that the earlier reports of correlations of the plaques and Alzheimer’s is not causative. In addition the older research showing correlation between Alzheimer and amyloid/tau plaques really is coming under more scrutiny (as the PT article points out) as the plaques don't appear to relate to cognitive decline. Though of course, the parent article has some chance of having a correct or partially correct hypothesis as say plaque correlations only appear in a subset of a genetic population and AZ is two distinct disease mechanisms with different etiologies. It's like the issue with statin's... a decent working hypothesis (but barely flushed out past first year grad school research) gets postulated and scooped up by the media. Then drug companies and publicly funded researchers spend billions research interventionist drugs. Often without due diligence on the fundamental scientific hypothesis -- good luck getting a grant on testing that when they hype cycle is full on. Then you're left with an enormous amount of money spent with debatable long term societal effects [1, 2, 3]. I wonder if SV and VC getting more into medicine if these trends will get better or worse. Though it's still possible that there's no way to discover the longer term effect of cholesterol and statins unless you spend a few billion. But surely, there's got to be better ways. 1: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/828448/statins-warning-heart-medicine-fail-harms-health-study-reveals https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/828448/statins-w... 2: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513492/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513492/ 3: http://www.statinnation.net/blog/2018/1/8/quzr8nj3k9v23at4fe1k4bwcuvwi91 http://www.statinnation.net/blog/2018/1/8/quzr8nj3k9v23at4fe...

jwineinger 8y ago

Would someone be able to do a study on people who have already been on this drug and see if they get Alzheimer's at a lower rate than the general population?