4 ms·
Trial drugs 'reverse' Alzheimer's
- antidaily 17y agoWow @ "We desperately need to fund more research to head off a forecast doubling the UK population living with dementia."
- adamc 17y agoProbably just a graying population.
- jawngee 17y agoThat line stood out to me as well.
- ryanwaggoner 17y agoI wonder how much of this is attributable to better diagnosis and an aging population, rather than an increased incidence of dementia.
- rms 17y agoI had to do a bit of research recently and I was surprised to find that dementia is mostly a misnomer. Dementia is a set of symptons, not an underlying cause. The most common causes of dementia is Alzheimer's. And as cruel as Alzheimer's may be, the other non-curable disorders are adamantly not better.
- chops 17y agoThis findings build on the team's 2007 breakthrough in which mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease regained long-term memories and the ability to learn. This is amazing news if it's really true. Like many here, my grandmother is suffering from dementia/alzheimer's, and she remembers none of her grandchildren, and occasionally she'll remember her some of her children. It would be nice if she could remember me again.
- dhimes 17y agoIt would have a big impact on my family, too. I hope it stands.
- a-priori 17y agoAbout a month ago, I presented their 2007 paper in a seminar class, so I'm familiar with their work. The biochemistry of how HDAC inhibitors work is over my head, but the neuroscience is quite intriguing and promising. Here's what they say about HDAC inhibitors in the abstract of the 2007 paper: "Moreover, increased histone acetylation by inhibitors of histone deacetylases induced sprouting of dendrites, an increased number of synapses, and reinstated learning behaviour and access to long-term memories". That paper showed that the effects of HDAC inhibitors were similar to environmental enrichment in recovering and preventing the loss of memories. The interesting part is that they do not prevent neuronal loss by brain atrophy; memory improves in the mice despite severe atrophy. If you're interested, the article I'm referring to is: Fischer et al. Recovery of learning and memory is associated with chromatin remodelling. Nature (2007) vol. 447 (7141) pp. 178. Edit: Their experiments used mice, not rats. Oops.
- dschoon 17y agoThough not a critique of medicine (or of what could potentially be an amazing treatment), it always saddens me when I read the headline of a medical breakthrough only to find that we really have no idea how it works. Some day, we'll understand the architecture of the brain. That day is still not today.
- TallGuyShort 17y agoI'm curious as to how they know the mice regained long-term memories...
- gcheong 17y agoI'm guessing by their ability to navigate a maze and how quickly they can do it on subsequent tries.
- a-priori 17y agoI haven't read this paper, but I have read the 2007 paper they mention in the article. In that study, the mice were trained in a Morris water maze task. Then, different groups are tested either immediately, 3 hours later, 24 hours later or 2 weeks later. Some in each group were given a histone deacetylase inhibitor, and they were compared to controls that were not. All these mice were transgenic knockout mice. When put on a diet containing doxycycline, their brains begin to atrophy. (Edit: all the experimental mice were on this diet) I assume this paper uses a similar procedure.
- oldgregg 17y agoI feel like for the past 8 years I've been regularly hearing about some new surgery or drug that substantially cures or halts Alzheimer... But is anything coming of it?
- tel 17y agoYou'll have to ask again in another 3 years when the first of those get provisional FDA approval for clinical trials.
- JulianMorrison 17y agoThe trouble is, until it has passed a double-blind test, it's basically hearsay. We have those tests because even good researchers working with seemingly promising drugs can be fooled by optimism or other biases.
- csantini 17y agoAnother brain boosting drug ? Are this kind of drugs the next large use additive ? http://npp.neuroscience.wisc.edu/PDF/TowardsResponsibleUseOFCognitive-EnhancingDrugsByTheHealthy.pdf http://npp.neuroscience.wisc.edu/PDF/TowardsResponsibleUseOF...
- mnemonicsloth 17y agoGood. This could alleviate a lot of human suffering if it's real. Now is the time to start the discussion: what if these drugs are also capable of increasing neuroplasticity above baseline in otherwise healthy adults?
- pygy 17y agoCatchy title. Wake me up when the first clinical trials show some positive results. Myriads of wonderdrugs for mice have sadly been found to be ineffective in humans. That said, if it works for us, I'll be among the first to try it, as soon as it's availlable.
- Bjoern 17y ago"Wake me up" is unfortunately the right expression. Not only do some drugs react differently in humans but until it really will reach the patient many years will pass I suppose.
- rms 17y agoGreat. It takes a long time though to go from curing something in mice to curing it in humans. Diabetes is cured in mice.