Upcoming Alzheimer's Drug Grinds to a Halt
Summary:
Amyloid plaques are the result of beta-amyloid protein deposits that build up in-between nerve cells in the brain as neurons deteriorate. Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease that affects the brain. Synaptic connections begin to shrink as neurons die which causes the trademark symptoms that include: decline in both spoken and written speech; decline in the ability to recognize people and objects; decline in judgement/decision making; and decline in motor function.
Solanezumab is a drug that was in development to slow the effects of dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease by attacking amyloid plaques within the brain. The results from clinical trials, however, showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the conditions of those given the drug to those who were given a placebo. There are approximately 47 million people who suffer from some form of dementia globally; 60 to 80% of which suffer from Alzheimer's disease. This setback struck the community particularly hard as solanezumab was promoted so highly after its success in earlier trials. The trial itself, called EXPEDITION3, began in 2013 and involved more than 2,100 participants with mild dementia caused by Alzheimer's.
Discussion:
This article reflects much of the information that I'd learned in the Psychology of Aging course on dementia. There are currently no drugs or treatments existing that stop the deterioration of neurons caused by Alzheimer's disease. There are reports that show that the FDA has approved 5 drugs that temporarily slow the deterioration for an average of 6 to 12 months for approximately 50% of the recipients. The current outlook for the treatment of Alzheimer's via amyloid deposits isn't looking optimistic as there are those who argue that there's no solid evidence that beta-amyloid build up is a cause for the disease to begin with. Typically the build up begins around 20 years before the onset of dementia but that only serves to provide evidence that the two are correlated in some way and not as a direct cause. It's a very real possibility that there will not be a cure for dementia found within my lifetime as trials for this disease have been going since it's discovery in the early 1900's and we're still only at a point where half the time the disease can be slowed down for a year or less.
Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/24/health/alzheimers-drug-test-fails/index.html
Amyloid plaques are the result of beta-amyloid protein deposits that build up in-between nerve cells in the brain as neurons deteriorate. Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease that affects the brain. Synaptic connections begin to shrink as neurons die which causes the trademark symptoms that include: decline in both spoken and written speech; decline in the ability to recognize people and objects; decline in judgement/decision making; and decline in motor function.
Solanezumab is a drug that was in development to slow the effects of dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease by attacking amyloid plaques within the brain. The results from clinical trials, however, showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the conditions of those given the drug to those who were given a placebo. There are approximately 47 million people who suffer from some form of dementia globally; 60 to 80% of which suffer from Alzheimer's disease. This setback struck the community particularly hard as solanezumab was promoted so highly after its success in earlier trials. The trial itself, called EXPEDITION3, began in 2013 and involved more than 2,100 participants with mild dementia caused by Alzheimer's.
Discussion:
This article reflects much of the information that I'd learned in the Psychology of Aging course on dementia. There are currently no drugs or treatments existing that stop the deterioration of neurons caused by Alzheimer's disease. There are reports that show that the FDA has approved 5 drugs that temporarily slow the deterioration for an average of 6 to 12 months for approximately 50% of the recipients. The current outlook for the treatment of Alzheimer's via amyloid deposits isn't looking optimistic as there are those who argue that there's no solid evidence that beta-amyloid build up is a cause for the disease to begin with. Typically the build up begins around 20 years before the onset of dementia but that only serves to provide evidence that the two are correlated in some way and not as a direct cause. It's a very real possibility that there will not be a cure for dementia found within my lifetime as trials for this disease have been going since it's discovery in the early 1900's and we're still only at a point where half the time the disease can be slowed down for a year or less.
Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/24/health/alzheimers-drug-test-fails/index.html
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