5 ms·
New Alzheimer's Treatment Clears Plaques from Brains of Mice Within Hours
- jader201 1y ago> Within hours of the first injection, the animal brains showed a nearly 45 percent reduction in clumps of amyloid-beta plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. > The mice had previously shown signs of cognitive decline, but after all three doses, the animals performed on par with their healthy peers in spatial learning and memory tasks. The benefits lasted at least six months. 1. This is great news… for mice with Alzheimer’s that don’t mind treatments every 6 months. 2. It’s crazy to think about something like this actually curing Alzheimer’s in humans, even if for just 6 months. Even more so if repeated doses have the same effects. 3. As with all of these studies, mice != humans, but it’s nice to have hope. Side note: the temporary part of #2 makes me think about The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey [1]. It’s hard to fathom having a relative “come back” like that for a short time. Or even permanently. [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13820498 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13820498
- nharada 1y agoIf this was effective on humans I think most people would accept having treatments 2x a year
- copperx 1y agoOne must live a very privileged life to mind a 2x a year inconvenience in exchange for a working brain. I wouldn't mind 10x a day injections if it keeps Alzheimer's at bay. Actually, I wouldn't mind a continuous IV drip.
- bitmasher9 1y agoI usually consider dialysis to be the point where treatments start to become very limiting. Twice a week, most people feel tied to their dialysis clinic and cannot go far from it.
- vasco 1y agoDialysis specifically requires several hours and a specific location and its debilitating. Going to a random pharmacy to take an injection 2x a week would be much simpler.
- dmurray 1y agoAnd plenty of people living with diabetes manage to self-medicate with injections multiple times a day.
- derektank 1y agoBeing forced to sit in a chair for several hours every few days isn't what makes dialysis so debilitating. It's the loss of kidney function that dialysis doesn't replace, tied with the cardiovascular stress of emptying all the waste from the body at once.
- vasco 1y agoDid anyone say that?
- Grazester 1y agoI have an acquaintance who has lived most of his life without kidneys(40 years). Looking in from the outside, his life seems normal; go to the gym and have a beer or two like anyone would, except for the dialysis trips. I then have a relative into their late 60's that was very laxed about diabetics within recent years.This has lead to kidney issues. They are refusing dialysis because of I guess the stigma attached to it. Now they are experiencing a cognitive decline due to poorly functioning kidneys. I guess when you want to live you would do whatever it takes.
- londons_explore 1y agoWhy has nobody made a backpack dialysis machine so you can keep going about your day?
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- trhway 1y ago> wouldn't mind 10x a day injections if it keeps Alzheimer's at bay. Actually, I wouldn't mind a continuous IV drip. There seems to be a much better way: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/small-amounts-of-moderate-to-vigorous-physical-activity-are-associated-with-big-reductions-in-dementia-risk https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/small-amounts-of-moderate-... "The researchers found that engaging in as little as 35 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, compared to zero minutes per week, was associated with a 41% lower risk of developing dementia over an average four-year follow-up period. Even for frail older adults—those at elevated risk of adverse health outcomes—greater activity was associated with lower dementia risks. The researchers found dementia risk decreased with higher amounts of physical activity. Dementia risks were 60% lower in participants in the 35 to 69.9 minutes of physical activity/week category; 63% lower in the 70 to 139.9 minutes/week category; and 69% lower in the 140 and over minutes/week category."
- lm28469 1y agoPeople keep telling they'd sacrifice everyting for an hypothetical silver bullets while doing nothing in their day to day life to mitigate all these disease. Eat clean, exercise, 8 hours of deep good uninterrupted sleep, &c. 3/4th of people are obese or overweight, the average Joe walks like 4k steps a day, people, at large, don't give a shit about health until they get a terminal diagnosis
- coldtea 1y ago>the average Joe walks like 4k steps a day Which is not that bad. 10k/steps was a made up marketing goal from a speedometer company. The sweet spot is around 7k/steps day, but 4k/steps day is already seeing benefits.
- foldr 1y agoNot everyone can just choose to get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep! I’d love to.
- jbstack 1y agoApples and oranges. You're talking about prevention, but this is about cure / treatment. Once you have already have Alzheimer's, exercise isn't going to save you.
- jader201 1y agoOf course, but that’s assuming: 1. There aren’t serious side effects that make it more of a tradeoff 2. The price isn’t on the order of 6-7 figures (or possibly less for some)
- don_neufeld 1y agoAs someone close to a severe Alzheimer’s case - I would personally write a check for $100K in a heartbeat for a treatment that worked. And yes - I mean I would do that every 6 months. I’m curious: Do you have any idea what care for such situations costs today?
- jader201 1y agoI don’t, no. But my point isn’t so much about willingness to pay for such a treatment, but ability to pay for such a treatment. My understanding is that some treatments like this are sometimes not covered by insurance, so only high income individuals are able to afford them. On the other hand, long-term care often is covered by insurance, and the insurance is more affordable.
- lm28469 1y agoClose to nothing if you live in a multi generational house where people are close by and can take care of each other, thousands per month if you delegate everything to medical practices. I've witnessed both cases, many times
- scotty79 1y agoThe fact that no money exchanges hands doesn't mean that it costs nothing. The work is still the same. In multigenerational house younger generations pay with their life opportunities for the care.
- bartread 1y agoIf it was effective on humans I think people would accept daily treatments, were it to be necessary - Alzheimer’s is just that awful.
- xattt 1y agoThe alternative is 24/7 care in a long-term care facility with multiple RCWs per floor and a couple of RNs. There are definitely enough Human Resources available to support this initiative.
- whycome 1y agoI don’t know why this isn’t a case where human subjects for the tests aren’t allowed.
- qwertytyyuu 1y agoThis test shows effectiveness, they also need to go through trials to test for safety and unintended side effects
- adastra22 1y agoThat’s actually the reverse order (and this trial didn’t test efficacy in humans).
- Dylan16807 1y ago> That’s actually the reverse order I'd say that depends on how effective something is. If a treatment makes significant changes to most of the patients, you can have sufficient effectiveness proof before you're halfway done with the phase 1 safety trial.
- jpollock 1y agoIf the disease is severe enough to justify an untested treatment with unknown toxicity they aren't aware enough to grant consent.
- b112 1y ago#2 isn't necessarily so even. They said the effects lasted at least 6 months, not "only". I haven't read the study, but it sounds to me that it was 6 months of success then publish.
- dmurray 1y agoAlso, lab mice only live for ~2 years. A study of mice for significantly longer than that doesn't make sense.
- tinco 1y agoYes, and consider how an animal that lives only 2 years gets Alzheimer's in the first place. They must be genetically engineered to have super turbo Alzheimer's. Normal Alzheimer's doesn't progress so fast I think.
- amenhotep 1y agoThis is a really important thing to keep in mind with these studies, we don't actually know that we're curing Alzheimer's in these mice. We don't even know if mice really get Alzheimer's in the way we do. What we're curing is mice who've been genetically modified to overproduce a protein that's associated with Alzheimer's, and we think that's a good model because the overproduction seems to cause symptoms that look like what Alzheimer's would look like in mice, but it's still just a model.
- IAmBroom 1y agoYou DNRTFA. It explains that there are test strains of mice with a genetic condition that predisposes them to Alzheimer's-like conditions. As always, there's no guarantee that it will work IRL on Homo sapiens.
- _factor 1y agoI immediately thought of Awakenings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings_(book) also.
- coldtea 1y ago>1. This is great news… for mice with Alzheimer’s that don’t mind treatments every 6 months. Would you rather test it directly on humans? Do you think they did it not caring whether it's also eventually applicable to humans all? Do you think if the treatment reaches humans and is effective, and Alzheimer’s patient would "mind treatments every 6 months"?
- bartread 1y agoIt’s pretty clear that the commenter you’re responding to is making the point that a treatment effective in mice still has a long way to go before it’s viable for use on humans, assuming it is ever viable to use on humans. Mice and humans are quite different, and whilst it looks like this treatment actually reverses the effects of dementia in mice, it’s far from clear that it would have the same impact on humans. By the time people start exhibiting Alzheimer’s symptoms, the brain will already have sustained quite a lot of damage - by which I mean death of neurons - so it’s hard to see how this would actually reverse the disease, as opposed to simply slowing or halting its progression, without these neurons being replaced.
- AnimalMuppet 1y agoMost people start exhibiting Alzheimer's symptoms long before they develop full-blown Alzheimer's. Starting treatment when a person has only taken a small amount of damage, reversing what would go on to cause further damage, could be a really big deal.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- hard_times 1y agoAren't you a ray of sunshine...
- rickydroll 1y ago#2 reminds me more of *Flowers for Algernon" This resonates with me particularly strongly, as one of the many failures of my body is that I live with NPH (normal pressure hydrocephalus). Almost a week ago, I had a spinal tap as a diagnostic test to see if I truly had NPH or if there was a different reason for the bubble of fluid in my brain. An hour after the tap, I felt my arms and legs moving more freely than they had in years, and I was able to move significantly faster than before. And now, a week later, I can feel the stiffness setting in again. I'm sliding my feet more, and I can't move as quickly. I don't know how to characterize the sense of loss I feel. As my body returns to the pre-spinal tap "normal." I'm left with the fading sensation of a freer movement and a clearer mind, with the hope that one of the treatments for NPH will restore that better self. I can only imagine, with a bit of horror, the sense someone would have coming out of the fog of Alzheimer's, feeling normal for months. Then the anxiety one might feel, as the Alzheimer's fog returns, and be scared that it might not go away again with the next dose—a real "Flowers for Algernon" moment. I still need to talk to my neurologist to find out if I qualify for the CFS shunt/drain operation. It would be nice to have a clearer mind and freer body, even if I do become part Borg.
- pschuegr 1y agofascinating post, thank you
- yencabulator 1y agoThe Last Days of Ptolemy Grey makes me think of Flowers for Algernon. https://raio.org/FlowersForAlgernon.pdf https://raio.org/FlowersForAlgernon.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowers_for_Algernon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowers_for_Algernon
- PaulKeeble 1y agoSo far all the prior Amyloid clearing drugs did not cause recovery in people despite doing so in mice. Its meant a lot of researchers now aren't convinced that the Beta Amyloid is the problem in Alzheimer's. I hope this one ends up differently, its definitely a lot faster and more effective than the others at clearing.
- tombert 1y agoWell that's depressing. My biggest fear, and this isn't a bad setup for a joke, is early-onset Alzheimers. I don't think I'm especially high-risk for it, but I did have a single great-grandfather who got it so technically it does run in my family. It seems so horrible, having your brain sort of deteriorate and losing all your memories, and being a burden to everyone. Ideally I never get it, but if I do get I hope it's in like my late 90's, or even better by the time I get it they already have a cure, though the fact this might not work for humans makes me a little sad.
- ineedaj0b 1y agothere’s some interesting treatment in china that seems promising. something about unclogging drains in the neck. friend told me it looked ‘possible’. the whole western field is 15-20 years behind because some researcher lied about plaque data and everyone spent all their time chasing the lead. I think you’ll see useful therapies in 15-20 years from the west, maybe sooner if all the some ai hype pans out. or the Chinese thing turns out to work! can’t tell myself. there’s probably an American who will try it at some point and publish a case study. Very tough to judge Chinese papers.. here’s an overview: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12121576/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12121576/
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago“Despite this rapid adoption and ‘miraculous effects’ from non-academic sources, no other country has reported clinical applications or clinical trials of LVA for AD treatment so far, raising questions about its mechanism, efficacy and implications.” China has an actual medical establishment. The fact that the treat this as homeopathy should give one pause.
- notmyjob 1y agoCreatine seems to make some marginal difference if taken in sufficient dosages, anecdotally. More research is underway.
- doubleblind 1y agoThere is also this study (https://doi.org/10.1002/trc2.70101 https://doi.org/10.1002/trc2.70101), showing some benefit regarding cognition in alzheimers patients. AFAIK it's the first human trial in this context though, so it is still very preliminary.
- eagsalazar2 1y agoHere is the big question: How profitable would this be for big pharma if it really worked? If the answer isn't an enormous number, this isn't going anywhere beyond the researchers who published their work.
- stoneman24 1y agoIf the cost to the UK is reported to be 42 billion per year [0] (need to do more verification on this) and I quickly couldn’t see a figure for the US, then I believe there is an argument for a nationalisation policy where the government writes a very large cheque to the company and then makes the treatment free to everyone. A bit socialisation of health care for some but the benefits to the economy may well be worth the trade alone, never mind the individual benefits [0] https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/how-much-does-dementia-care-cost https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/how-much-does-dementia-ca...
- jbstack 1y agoThe problem is, you're not just writing a large cheque in return for a working treatment. You're writing a large cheque to roll the dice on some research that might (and probably won't, statistically) result in a working treatment. So you need a very large cheque so that you can fund multiple research projects in the hopes that one of them will give you a treatment. Even then, there's the possibility that none of them will work and you've got nothing to show for any of the money spent.
- logicalfails 1y agoTo play the devils advocate, does that take into the "cost" to the government if pensioners are living longer because Alzheimers was cured? I could easily see this turning into a debate behind politicians closed doors of "If "x" % of the population has their life is extended an average of "y" years, how much more does that cost in pension payouts over the life of the individual vs the medical savings from curing Alzheimers?"
- ChrisArchitect 1y agoDiscussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45528308 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45528308
- lloydatkinson 1y agoCan’t wait for how this will take decades just to decide if they’ll try this on humans.
- throwaway81523 1y agoThere's lots of very elderly Alzheimers patients in hospice care... might be an easier clinical trial to get approved than some alternatives.
- oliwarner 1y agoConsenting Alzheimer's patients is ethically tricky even at early stages of the disease. Just as it is for anyone staring down the barrel at a particularly nasty degenerative disease. I'm with you though. I know I'd want it more than the Alzheimer's.
- PlunderBunny 1y agoI wonder if it's possible to 'pre-consent' before onset, and if that would be considered consent?
- oliwarner 1y agoApparently not in the UK. Trials need informed consent. But you can allow a proxy to make the decision for you via a lasting power of attorney.
- qgin 1y agoI wonder if this could be used in cases of central amyloid angiopathy. I had a family member whose blood vessels in the brain essentially turned into fragile glass from this (and ultimately hemorrhaged).