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People Want an Alzheimer’s Drug. This Isn’t the One. NY Times

Discussion in 'Other health news and research' started by Jaybee00, May 29, 2021.

  1. Jaybee00

    Jaybee00 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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  2. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    Consequence1 : Side effects that are hard to differentiate from the disease

    Consequence 2: Slowed progress to find a good drug
    I'd add that having a treatment in the arsenal, even one that doesn't really work, reduces the political pressure on funders to keep looking for a good treatment.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2021
    JemPD, Wonko, Michelle and 14 others like this.
  3. Snow Leopard

    Snow Leopard Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Finally, a realistic headline!
     
    Wonko, Michelle, alktipping and 9 others like this.
  4. MeSci

    MeSci Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    If I remember rightly, Professor Steven Rose was on about amyloid beta in connection with Alzheimer's many years ago, despite the fact that he found results similar to these. I challenged him vigorously at the Open University about it. Isn't it time that they sought the actual cause of this disease?
     
    Wonko, Michelle, alktipping and 6 others like this.
  5. FMMM1

    FMMM1 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Sure you're aware that @Simon M has pointed out that GWAS has suggested clues re Alzheimer's.
     
    alktipping and MeSci like this.
  6. Jaybee00

    Jaybee00 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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  7. leokitten

    leokitten Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Consequence 3: Doctors in the USA getting pressure from families to prescribe it off-label for loved ones with more advanced Alzheimer’s (for which it’s not indicated, only early MCI stage) because this is such a devastating disorder, burdening patient families and insurance companies with huge costs (cuz you know this is USA we move with the $ it’s gonna be $$$$) for a drug that likely will not work for more advanced Alzheimer’s.
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2021
  8. leokitten

    leokitten Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    I think since then not only discovery of the role of tau protein plus I believe very importantly the role of blood brain barrier damage/breakdown and insulin resistance and diabetes in the pathogenesis and progression of Alzheimer’s. BBB damage and leakage from diet, high blood pressure, diabetes, as well as brain cellular metabolic dysfunction due to insulin resistance I think are very plausible causes or major factors in the development of idiopathic (non APOE4 mutation) Alzheimer’s.
     
    Mariaba, MeSci, Amw66 and 1 other person like this.
  9. MeSci

    MeSci Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Yes - I studied Alzheimer's and all the probably-wrong theories for my Master's degree, and I think I found tau abnormalities a lot more likely to be a cause than amyloid-beta. But still they keep trying. :(
     
  10. James Morris-Lent

    James Morris-Lent Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Well, it worked out for them... monetarily.
     
    MeSci, chrisb and Peter Trewhitt like this.

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