Alzheimer's Disease Breakthrough As New Drug Clears Toxic Proteins From Brains Of Patients

[Fweethawt]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/alzheimers-disease-dementia-breakthrough-new-drug-scientists-a7218481.html

 

An antibody that can almost completely clear the visible signs of Alzheimer’s disease from the brain has been discovered in a breakthrough that left one scientist “trying not to get too excited”.

 

Researchers scanned the brains of people with the degenerative condition as they were given doses of the drug, which is based on an immune cell taken from the blood of elderly people aged up to 100 who showed no signs of the disease.

[Jeff]

Please please yes

[buffettphan]

^ and please please let it be affordable for everyone who needs it.

[pantheory]

I've been following the possibilities of slowing down senility and Alzheimer for quite a while now. We might all face that possibility someday. This story seems like a promising lead. There have been assertions of possible treatments in the past, but I don't think any of these have seemed as promising to me as this possibility. It still seems unclear to me how they derive the treatment drug, but I expect further explanations will follow if many believe it to be very promising.

 

Of course affordability will be a question, but I expect if it continues as a good possibility, all the big drug companies in the world will try to get in on it which seemingly would eventually lead to affordable prices for related drugs. The problem for U.S. and European drug companies is that a small fortune must be spent, as well as many years of human testing and trials, to get final approval for any such drug in these countries. For countries with less red tape and hoops to jump through could get out a version of the drug first; they might glean huge profits before the mainstream drug companies can get their versions out. Of course such drugs will not be legal in any country that hasn't given approval to the drug, but that would not stop a lucrative black market from developing along with possible risks of side effects from drugs that have not been "thoroughly" tested. 

 

All in all it sounds great, so far.