A new drug is set to drastically help the prospects of Alzheimer's disease patients, a recent study ...
A new drug is set to drastically help the prospects of Alzheimer's disease patients, a recent study has found.
The drug, called Etanercept, blocks a protein in the brain named tumour necrosis factor-alpha that normally regulates the transmission of nerve impulses. Researchers believe that elevated levels may interfere with this process in Alzheimer's patients.
The findings were published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, which noted "the striking rapidity with which these improvements occurred in the study patients".
The study looked to see whether the protein dampens inflammation in the brain, possibly halting the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
A six month study was conducted with 15 Alzheimer's patients who were treated weekly with perispinal injection of the drug that is also widely used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other systematic diseases associated with inflammation.
The injection method system also contributed to the effectiveness of the treatment. If proven, this system could be useful in drug delivery to the brain in other neural disorders, as well as in animal research studies, many of which currently employ delivery strategies that inflict damage to neural cells and therefore engender neuroinflammatory responses.
However, the Alzheimer's Society played down the findings. Neil Hunt, chief executive at the society, said: "It is crucial more research is carried out before any conclusions are drawn on tumour necrosis factor-alpha and the development of Alzheimer's disease."
There are currently 700,000 people with dementia in the UK and there will be over one million people with dementia by 2025. One third of people over 95 have dementia and according to the Alzheimer's Society delaying the onset of dementia by five years would reduce deaths directly attributable to dementia by 30,000 a year.
