New Alzheimer’s research promising in field with many failures

Billions of dollars spent on Alzheimer’s Disease research have produced no big bang results, but new research on a possible Alzheimer’s vaccine is making a lot of noise.

There’s little doubt about this: Researchers at the University of Texas have found a way to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight plaques and tau protein tangles in the brain.

Amyloid plaques and tau protein tangles are typical in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. They are thought to block and destroy brain nerve connections.

Researchers, led by Roger N. Rosenberg, showed that in studies on mice, his DNA-based treatment reduced amyloid plaques by 40 percent and tangles by 50 percent.

But does this prevent Alzheimer’s or improve cognition in existing patients? That is the question scientists and patients are eager to find out.

Rosenberg told BeingPatient.com that they are testing subject mice now for evidence of improved cognition.

This research does address the leading theory of Alzheimer’s Disease: Keep amyloid low and avoid Alzheimer’s.

Some research has shown that some people with high amyloid do not get Alzheimer’s, suggesting that amyloid is not the only factor at play in Alzheimer’s.

If the theory of the UT research is correct, it does lead to a possible route to prevent Alzheimer’s. The idea is that such a vaccine could delay onset of Alzheimer’s, slow the rate of progression, or prevent the disease.

However, amyloid plaques, along with associated inflammation, destroy nerve connections in the brain. Those nerves won’t come back. So the focus is on developing treatments — or a vaccine — that work long before the disease reaches critical stages, according to Time.

The vaccination triggers skin cells to produce a chain of amyloid. Then the body’s immune system produces antibodies to fight amyloid and tau proteins. The body then has antibodies to fight build-up of the plaques and tangles before they devastate neural connections. It is administered as a shallow shot in the skin, not into the muscle.

Testing on humans has not yet begun. Researchers predict this vaccine could cut dementia cases in half.

About 36 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s Disease. It is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S.