Another four 2015 Alzheimer’s success stories

Following hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement that Eli-Lilly’s drug solanezumab heralded a breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, the EPM team has done some digging and presents four additional newsworthy developments in the field.

1. Also this month, US researchers discovered that brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s worsen as increasingly large amounts of proteins in the brain become misfolded and aggregate (clump together). This has lead to investigations into the protein lifecycle and the causes of this misfolding and aggregation; it is hoped that this could pave the way for a drug that treats several neurodegenerative diseases. Scientists from the New York University School of Medicine, Treventis Corp. and NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals presented three potential compounds that target protein misfolding and aggregation at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Washington.
2. Yet another July announcement, a ‘Nutrition, Metabolism and Dementia’ Professional Interest Area (PIA) has been established at the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART). There is a real demand from the public for reliable information on dietary practices that reduce the risk of dementia. The purpose of this new PIA is to facilitate more informed decisions on what nutritional approaches influence dementia risk by connecting scientists and clinicians.
3. Last month, the Guardian published a story on two already licenced drugs having been shown to “restore protein production and prevent memory loss” in the brains of mice. The results of the studies, conducted by scientists at the University of Cambridge, have been positively received by the Alzheimer’s Society owing to the fact that the medicines are already known to be safe for humans. The names of the drugs were withheld to prevent patients from trying to obtain them ahead of a clinical trial.
4. Back in April, researchers at the University of South Australia and Third Military Medical University in China revealed that Edaravone, a drug used to treat stroke patients in some Asian countries, had been successfully trialled in mice as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s. In a press release issued by the University of South Australia, the drug is described as having the ability to “alleviate the progressive cognitive effects of Alzheimer’s disease”.