Alzheimer's disease 'wonder drug' claims are premature

ConclusionThe number of people with Alzheimer's disease is increasing as the global population ages. Researchers have estimated 44 million people currently have the condition, and this number will grow to more than 135 million by 2050. It's believed the condition is caused at least in part by the accumulation of toxic aggregates of beta-amyloid protein pieces in the brain. Researchers hope stopping this aggregation could be a way to prevent or treat the disease, but have not yet found successful ways of doing this.This piece of research looked at nerve cells and microscopic worms genetically modified to develop beta-amyloid aggregates. The researchers aimed to develop a way to identify chemicals that could suppress the formation of toxic amyloid aggregates. They identified the cancer drug bexarotene as one drug that could do this.The main limitation of this study is it only provides very early-stage findings, which are so far in nerve cells and a short-lived worm model. As worms are much simpler organisms than humans, the next step would be confirming these findings in more complex animal models, like mice, before considering testing in humans. Bexarotene has been investigated before in animals, with mixed results. The drug only appears to slow the formation of beta-amyloid aggregates, so even if it does show an effect in further studies, it may not be able to prevent Alzheimer's completely. In addition, the drug did not show an effect in worms if given once the beta-amyloid ...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Neurology Older people Source Type: news