ALZFORUM Looks Back at 2017 in Alzheimer ' s Research

ALZFORUM should be on your reading list if you have more than a passing interest in research into neurodegenerative conditions. It is a great example of what can be achieved in educational advocacy if any earnest institutional funding is devoted to the task. That investment in advocacy exists today because Alzheimer's disease research is by far the largest portion of the broader aging research community, measured by funding and volume of projects, and has been for some time. The situation is quite different for our area of interest, rejuvenation research to repair the causes of aging. Here, the scientific programs of our community are still bootstrapping towards success in the absence of any larger-scale institutional funding, powered almost entirely by philanthropy. There really is no comparison when it comes to funding infrastructure. Still, ALZFORUM turns out a quality of online advocacy and education that we can aspire to - and given the continued unremitting failure in clinical trials of potential Alzheimer's therapies, it has to be said that just having funding doesn't automatically make advocacy an easy goal. Confronting failure in trying to stem symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD), the field's main thrust has turned toward retooling its drug trials for ever-earlier disease stages. To sustain enthusiasm among participants and sites, scientists were advised to focus on learning from failure rather than conveying a sense of nihilism, both in internal discussion...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs