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Exelon - Cure for Alzheimer's Disease?
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Latest news summary - exelon
and other treatments
Exelon was launched in 1997 as a treatment for Alzheimer's
disease, and received regulatory approval for Europe in May 1998
- but does it work? Novartis says it delays the process
by around six months. Now Novartis want to conduct
larger studies, having shown that the drug seems to slow down
progression in some people in earlier trials of 3,300 people.
This is not a cure, and there is no cure on the
horizon yet, partly because the term Alzheimer's is used loosely
to describe a great number of conditions which affect brain
function in the elderly. In strict medical terms Alzheimer's
disease is a term used to describe pre-senile dementia, or severe
mental deterioration in someone under the age of 65. However,
in popular jargon the term is used to describe the process in
the elderly. Alzheimer's affects 4 million Americans,
with up to 20 million expected to be affected by 2050.
Many things affect the brain as we get older.
For example, if the heart is diseased, tiny clots or debris can
be released, which travel from the left ventricle up the aorta,
into the arteries in the neck. They clog up tiny capillaries
in the brain causing death of small numbers of cells. This
produces the classic "multi-infarct" syndrome.
The process is completely unrelated to another disease
associated with Alzheimer's: the formation of amyloid beta deposits,
or plaques, which are often seen in those with mental deterioration
and may be genetically influenced. Doctors at the New York
University Medical Centre have found that the formation of these
plaques can be inhibited by a peptide called iAb5, which could
lead one day to a new treatment. However no one is sure
whether these plagues arise after damage or if they cause it.
Injecting older monkeys with beta amyloid produces
brain damage, while younger monkeys seem immune to it.Other recent
research suggests that oestrogen may have a protective effect
on plaque formation, but these results are very preliminary, seen
in the laboratory only.Up to six genes may be linked to Alzheimer's
disease.
What of the future:
Think of Alzheimer's as many different disease
processes, with varying treatments.
Expect such drugs to be needed for life and
to slow down, not arrest the process, with fresh arguments
about cost and benefit.
Expect genetic screening to be increasingly
accurate in identifying those at risk enabling earlier tests
and intervention.
Expect a new generation of smart drugs to
emerge, with direct effects on brain function, improving
memory, which will then become widely abused by students
and others seeking a competitive edge.
How scientists will slow down or stop ageing in humans- Video
Comment by Dr Patrick Dixon on science of ageing, health care, life expectancy, medical advances, pensions, retirement, lifestyles and government policy.
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Video / Articles by Patrick Dixon - 24 million requests in year - 10 million visitors - Conference Speech/Event? 
