Discovery of the decade? Injection 'could cure Alzheimer's in minutes'

Belfast Telegraph ^ | April 12, 2008

[Fire_on_High]

If it’s not double blind, you could prep the area normally then prick the skin but not go to the actual depth for the injection or actually inject anything. I’m pretty sure a doctor would be able to give the impression the real shot was given without doing anything that dangerous.

[raybbr]

ping

[uncbob]

and, crucially, had not been tested against a placebo in a randomised controlled trial.

Yeah a placebo is going to have the same effect---why waste time

[SlapHappyPappy]

The process for new used for already approved drugs is much quicker. Additionally, off label use of medication is generally legal.

[PGalt]

Thanks for posting & links (although video not seen in links, bob). Thanks to all contributors.

Ping.

Fascinating.

Health/Life BUMP!

[rbg81]

I’m a lot skeptical that you can cure a degenerative disease that inflicts years worth of damages in a few minutes. It would be great if true, however.

[hinckley buzzard]

Just what we need. A pill to turn the former Mother-in-law from He!!, now in a nursing home, back into the mother-in-law from he!!.;-)

Heh heh. Nobody says you have to give it to her...

[firewalk]

Thanks for posting this

[r9etb]

1. An interesting finding ... IF TRUE.

2. As is said in the diabetes world, "It's a treatment, not a cure."

3. I guess there's one more treatment that doesn't require fetal stem cells....

[kruss3]

Very recent research indicates that Alzheimer’s is another manifestation of type two diabetes in that new memory is created when insulin facilitates the uptake of glucose into a brain cell neuron. Alzheimer’s patients have limited ability to create new memory because of this type of “insulin resistance”. In type two diabetics it is the inability of insulin to facilitiate efficient uptake of glucose into skeletal muscles and the accumulation of excess levels of serum glucose that forms the generally accepted definition of type two diabetes and the related concepts of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and syndrome X.

I have recently developed a novel mechanism for temporarily circumventing the type two diabetic form of insulin resistance and I am optimistic it will have similar effects on the insulin resistance that impedes the formation of new memory in Alzheimer’s patients.

[hinckley buzzard]

The researchers said improvement usually continued with weekly injections until it reached a plateau at about three months. Some patients had been taking it for three years

Helps to read the article.

[dragnet2]

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 within minutes, and have released videos of patients to prove it.

Within minutes? Incredible!

[r9etb]

Placebos are not relevant here. - It either works or it does not, and the difference would be discernible to anyone familiar with the patient.

No, a placebo is necessary as a control. Proper test methodology requires a known "null" set to determine whether or not there is a statistically significant difference between those who were treated, and those who were not.

It's possible that this is a "placebo" response on the part of the caregiver. She sees a shot, and then notices that "Biff is much better." But is that a projection of her own wishes, or is it real? That's what the placebo trials help to catch.

Hopefully there really is a huge difference ... but without actually testing for it, you don't know.

On the plus side, this treatment allegedly works so quickly that if it's a real effect, the "placebo" group could end up getting it pretty quickly, too.

'Course, given that the treatment involves passing the "blood-brain barrier," it would be pretty bad if this drug ended up causing strokes. You've got to test for those side-effects, too.

[quintr]

But if the medication has already been approved for arthritis, how difficult would it be to allow the drug to have an alternative use?

[Know et al]

Unless a person has had to care for a loved one with dementia, they have no idea how traumatic the condition is to the patient or the care giver. I pray that the reversal of dementia is finally discovered. My dad had Alzheimer's and the experience is a total, absolute, living nightmare.

[Hacklehead]

Lets not rush the approval process. The last promising alzhiemers treatment was an antibody against the plaque that forms in the brain. At first it caused a greeat reduction in plaque and partial restoration of function. Then all the patients started dying of an autoimmune response.

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[spectre]

Good luck, kruss.

Bump!

[brytlea]

My wonderful Mother in Law had it for about the last 10 years of her life. It was so sad to see her decline. My Father in Law took care of her at home, God bless him. She was too difficult to travel with after awhile, so they stopped traveling. He died of a heart attack after a very short illness, and she died less than 48 hours later. I’m so sorry about your mother. It’s like they are stolen from you.

susie

[neverdem]

Thanks for the ping!