Optimism for the Future of Amyloid- β Clearance

In today's popular science article, the SENS Research Foundation offers a more rosy picture of the near future of amyloid-β clearance than is the usual fare these days. Amyloids are misfolded or otherwise altered proteins that can aggregate to form solid deposits that disrupt cellular biochemistry. In principle they should all be removed. Their existence is a form of harmful change that takes place with age, and the connections to cell dysfunction are quite clear. The failure of amyloid-β clearance to produce meaningful benefits in Alzheimer's patients has led to some disillusionment, however. Alzheimer's may be a condition in which amyloid-β aggregation is not the major pathological mechanism. I still agree with much of what is said here, that amyloids should be cleared regardless of whether Alzheimer's transitions to a later stage in which amyloid-β is irrelevant to pathology, regardless of whether amyloid-β is the primary agent in the onset stage of Alzheimer's. There is enough evidence for harms to result from amyloid-β that it should be removed. My primary concern regarding that point is that the present technologies capable of effective amyloid-β clearance in the brain, forms of immunotherapy, are just not safe enough to be deployed across the entire population, even setting aside the question of whether costs could be sufficiently reduced at that scale. Better approaches are needed. From Parachutes to Jetpacks: Clearing Brain Beta-Amyloid with Dona...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs