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A drug injected into the spine has produced rapid improvements in verbal fluency in a trial of 12 patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Etanercept (Enbrel), an antiTNF drug developed to treat rheumatoid arthritis, transformed the behaviour of some patients in a matter of minutes, the researchers say. The results, published in BMC Neurology, are the latest in a series of bold claims made by Edward Tobinick, from a private medical group in Los Angeles, and Hyman Gross, of the University of Southern California. Their theory is that TNF is used in the brain to regulate the transmission of nerve impulses. They...

Scientists claim videos are proof of breakthrough An injection that dramatically relieved the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease within minutes would qualify as the discovery of the decade. That is exactly what was claimed yesterday for an experimental treatment being tested in America. Scientists at the Institute for Neurological Research at the University of California have treated around 50 patients at a private clinic by injecting an anti-arthritic drug, etanercept, into the spinal column in the neck and then tilting the patients to encourage the drug to flow to the brain. They claim 90 per cent respond to the treatment, usually...

In a new report, U.S. researchers describe the improvement in brain function that occurred in a patient with Alzheimer's disease just minutes after receiving an injection in the spine of the arthritis drug Enbrel (also known as etanercept). For instance, just prior to treatment the patient was agitated and could not name the state. Ten minutes after treatment, he appeared calmer, more attentive, less frustrated and was able to correctly name the state. Further improvements in mental functioning, memory, and other cognitive parameters were noted at 2 hours. Dr. Edward L. Tobinick, from the University of California at Los Angeles,...

An arthritis drug shows promise in a small, experimental study targeting a root cause of Alzheimer's -- inflammation in the brain. WALTER Skotchdopole worked for 20 years as a police officer and 20 years in the film industry before succumbing to the relentless decline of Alzheimer's disease. In his prime, he joked with everyone he met. By his early 70s, he had become a shell of his former self. "He's there, but he's not," says his son James Skotchdopole. "There's no real interaction, no real stake in life." Walter Skotchdopole had tried several drugs, with no noticeable improvement. But when...