Posted on 07/30/2008 5:09:28 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter
A new drug halts the devastating progress of Alzheimer’s disease, say British scientists. It is said to be more than twice as effective as current treatments. A daily capsule of rember, as the drug is known, stops Alzheimer’s disease progressing by as much as 81 per cent, according to trial results. Patients with the brain disorder had no significant decline in their mental function over a 19-month period. ‘We appear to be bringing the worst affected parts of the brain functionally back to life,’ said Dr Claude Wischik, who led the research. It is the first time medication has been developed to target the ‘tangles’ in the brain that destroy nerve cells, leading to deteriorating memory. The drug helps to disrupt this process, preventing the formation of new tangles and loosening those already created. Last night the findings were hailed as the biggest breakthrough in the battle against Alzheimer’s since 1907.
< snip >
The trial was carried out by a team at the University of Aberdeen, led by Professor Wischik, who 20 years ago discovered the ‘tau protein’ which makes up the tangles. ‘This is an unprecedented result in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease,’ he said. ‘We have demonstrated for the first time that it may be possible to arrest progression of the disease by targeting the tangles that are highly correlated with the disease.
< snip >
Images of the brain showed rember had its biggest effect in the parts linked to memory, where the density of tau tangles is greatest, with better blood flow to these areas. The drug works by dissolving the tangle of tau fibres which releases waste products that kill nerve cells, and by preventing the fibres from becoming tangled.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
And then they can with hold it for another five years and we won’t remember why we wanted something from them.
If this drug is Elan’s, then this might be BS.
Elan is down 50% in today’s stock trading on disappointing results for its alzheimer’s drug.
Imagine where we could be in the fight against this diease if we’d spent a fraction of what was wasted on AIDS research.
And probably for my 72-year-old father.
You got that right. Even here on FR where people should know better, when the subject of Alzheimers comes up there always seems to be a few inconsiderate people who poke fun of it with a joke. Thankfully this thread seems to be free of them.
What?
My Mom still knows me, but she hardly speaks a word anymore during visits. You may get a simple yes or no if you ask her a direct question, but more often than not the response is just a smile and a blank stare. On the last visit she surprised me though by touching my head and saying “I Love You”.
It is so unbelievable, that at 79 she cant carry on a conversation, cant feed herself, cant get out of bed, cant walk, cant even switch channels on the TV – and then I know other people her age who play golf, fly their own airplane, spend time with their grandchildren, take their dogs to the beach and just do the normal things we all take for granted. I so often think it’s so unfair that my 6-year old son will not know the real Grandma, but then I keep reminding my self we are all just here for a very short while, and real happiness, and our real home is waiting for us.
The Heaven that awaits my Mom and your Father is not harps, white robes, and never-ending boredom which is the perception that many people have, because that is what movies, cartoons, and paintings have showed us what it is like.
The Heaven John wrote about in the Bible is so full of wonders and mysteries that in our wildest dreams we could not imagine it. Certainly Heaven contains many surprises which we will never be able to comprehend in this life. And it will not be boring.
Think back to the one single best day of your whole life. Maybe it was your wedding, the birth of your child, your first trip to Disneyland, the anniversary cruise with your spouse, whatever. Now imagine each day in Heaven being that multiplied 100-fold, and the number of those days will be endless. That is what I firmly believe Heaven will be like. Is it no wonder that John saw All the Heavenly host worshiping the creator of it all.
I heard it said once that, - “as a Christian, the day I die will be the best day I’ve ever lived. But it won’t be the best I will ever live.”
That is what I believe and that is what gets me through each tough day.
Why not? Did you catch this?
Antihistamine improves Alzheimer's symptoms
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
I erroneously didn’t include you to comment# 49. Please forgive me, and check the link.
Good news, but there are still other forms of dementia that this won’t help.
Great news.
Time to hold FDA’s feet to the fire.
Nobody survives with the terrible A disease.
Okay you liberal bastards in charge of FDA, approve this pill and get it on the market stat. You allowed the states to approve the abortion pill with zero studies for young fertile women. You can do approve this pill for those who have received the death sentence of the killer A disease.
I saw this article yesterday and couldn’t believe it. My mother lost her battle to this disease fairly recently. I pray this is finding is for real.
It doesn’t seem to be as widely reported as a “biggest breakthrough in 100 yrs.” SHOULD be. For now, I’m assuming it’s true - and what a happy day it is.
Thanks for posting this! I’m copying it for friends and a few relatives.
It may reach market in England in four years but here in the good old USA it will be years longer and when the fossil pit called the FDA gets around to looking at it and then the insurers of the drug companies will “tax” it and it will cost your three next of kin still living their yearly income...
It may reach market in England in four years but here in the good old USA it will be years longer and when the fossil pit called the FDA gets around to looking at it and then the insurers of the drug companies will “tax” it and it will cost your three next of kin still living their yearly income...
I’d been waiting for this for a few years now, I knew they had finally gotten chemicals to cross the blood brain barrier, and even had them attach to the plaque which is at the cause of the disease.. the last hurdle last I read was actually breaking up the plaque and carrying it away... looks like they have gotten there.
I wonder what the breakthru 100 years ago was that eclipsed this one?
Too bad this pill wasn’t around during Ronald Reagan’s last 10 years!!! Imagine the great speeches we would have had during the pathetic Clinton years
:(
I could not agree more. I have had 3 relatives waste away with this horrific disease, and they are on both sides of my family, which genetically could make me a candidate.
Of course, this disease does not fit the fu--ing liberal fast track, as you pointed out. The sooner we clean the stables of the liberal infestation of our gov't, the better.
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