Free Republic

A paper published today in the journal Cell Reports Medicine offers new hope for an Alzheimer’s drug that doesn’t just slow cognitive decline but may reverse it. The study, by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz, found that Leukine or GM-CSF, a drug long-approved to treat other conditions, was able to stop brain cells from dying in Alzheimer’s patients when measured in a blood test. Brain cell death is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. “The main thing that we found…is that the people who were treated with Leukine or GM-CSF actually lost the ability to kill their nerve cells…to...

A new study shows that a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease may also improve cognitive function in people with Down syndrome. The drug sargramostim (GM-CSF, which stands for granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) is the first to show memory improvement in Alzheimer's patients in a phase II clinical trial. GM-CSF is a normal human protein that is safe and well-tolerated with over 30 years of FDA-approved use for other disorders. A multidisciplinary team studied the safety and tolerability of GM-CSF treatment and its effects on behavior and brain pathology in a mouse model of Down syndrome and in mice undergoing typical aging....

Enlarge Image Still killing. Even with modern medical care, about a quarter of sepsis patients die. Credit: iStockphoto Sepsis isn't just one of those old-time diseases that people used to die from before the discovery of antibiotics. It's still a major killer. Now, a new study shows that immune cells known as B cells forestall sepsis in mice, a discovery that may help researchers devise better treatments for the illness. Each year, up to 1 million people in the United States fall victim to sepsis, a runaway infection coupled with bodywide inflammation. Despite antibiotics and other treatments, about 25% of...

Blocked arteries are dangerous wherever they occur and if you get a blockage in your legs, the can cause such excruciating pain walking can be difficult. Now there's a new treatment that allows patients to grow new healthy blood vessels to improve circulation. What's hard work for most of us is the good life for Tom Reynolds. Life on the farm became difficult last year. Tom Reynolds, 77-Years-Old: "I would have a shooting pain that would hit me in, right in my buttocks." Tom had peripheral vascular disease, where the arteries supplying blood to his legs became blocked. Left untreated,...