Alzheimer's disease: a new hope
The Alzheimer's Drug That Really Works
Copper news based on ScienceAlert: A new Alzheimer's drug just hit a major milestone in a human clinical trial
The scientific community became aware of Alzheimer's disease 110 years ago, when Alois Alzheimer described the symptoms of the disease at a congress of psychiatrists in Tubingen, Germany. This happened on November 3, 1906. He spoke about the disease, with the progression of which memory, speech disorders, and a weakening of intelligence gradually develop.
More than a century has passed, but an effective remedy to cope with the disease has not yet been found. Scientists are still arguing what exactly is the cause of Alzheimer's disease – they do not have an unambiguous answer.
On September 21, World Alzheimer's Day is celebrated. This disease is the cause of 60-80% of dementia cases worldwide. There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease yet, and there is no therapy that can stop the progression of the disease.
However, tests of verubecestat, a new drug from Merck & Co. that acts on accumulations of beta–amyloid in the brain, give hope to many patients. The drug has so far been tested on a small group of patients consisting of 32 people. Now more extensive tests are being carried out.
Beta-amyloid plaques are found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Together with neurofibrillary tangles, which are also present in the brain, plaques block the transport of nutrients in brain tissues, which further causes cognitive impairment and memory problems.
Scientists have managed to show that verubecestat prevents the formation of amyloid plaques. Patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease took the drug daily for a week. Healthy volunteers who took the drug for two weeks made up the control group.
No side effects were found. The authors found that even in such a short period of taking the medication, the concentration of molecules forming amyloid plaques in the brain decreased in patients. The drug acts on the enzyme BACE1, which plays an important role in the formation of plaques, cutting the protein molecules of amyloid precursors into smaller fragments.
Drugs that inhibit the work of BACE1 have already been created and tested before, but only this one has really shown its effectiveness without causing side effects.
Currently, the drug is being tested on 1,500 patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease and 2,000 people with the earliest form of the disease. The tests will last a year and a half, and the results of the research will be published no earlier than July 2017.
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03.11.2016