According to the National Institute of Health web site on clinical trials, there are over 225,506 studies currently being conducted throughout the United States and 192 countries. Less than 1% of the total number of studies being conducted addresses the chronic condition of Alzheimer’s disease (1,565 studies.) What are some of the various treatments that are currently being evaluated in the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease?
Medications called cholinesterase inhibitors are prescribed for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. These drugs may help reduce some symptoms and help control some behavioral symptoms. These treatments do not decelerate or prevent the progression of the disease. Non-drug interventions for Alzheimer's disease include things like memory training, mental and social stimulation, and physical exercise programs. Some of these strategies could possibly improve people's cognitive performance and increase their independence.
According to the National Institute of Health web site on clinical trials, there are over 225,506 studies currently being conducted throughout the United States and 192 countries. Less than 1% of the total number of studies being conducted addresses the chronic condition of Alzheimer’s disease (1,565 studies.) What are some of the various treatments that are currently being evaluated in the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease?
Great question. Some of the various treatments that are used to fight against Alzheimer’s disease for early onset patients are memory care and different treatments of this nature. As it said that medication works best for patients that have mild to moderate Alzheimer’s. For mild to moderate patients the medicines that are being used are several to name a few there is Aducanumab that helps with the amyloid deposits in the brain (Goldsmith, 2017). There is also Memantine, and Donepezil to name a few.
Reference:
Goldsmith H. S. (2017). Alzheimer's disease can be treated: Why the delay?. Surgical neurology international, 8, 133. https://doi.org/10.4103/sni.sni_116_17
A great place to look for information like this is clinicaltrials.gov. For example, there is a current study investigating the effects of hMSC infusions in persons with Alzheimer's disease. This study seems very limited at the moment, with only 6 participants estimated total. This means the statistical significance of the results will be harder to determine but it is a good first step in determining safety and efficacy of a treatment of this type. Here is a link if anyone is interested in learning more: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04040348?cond=Alzheimer+Disease&cntry=US&draw=2&rank=3
I did a term paper in my undergrad about this very subject. A lot of the current studies in this space are focused on early detection of precursor markers of Alzheimer's. Similar to prion diseases; Alzheimer disease is caused by an accumulation of mis-folded proteins in the cerebral cortex. After years and years of this buildup, the effectively dead tissue causes chronic inflammation in brain tissue. This leads to massive degeneration and loss grey matter mass. Current studies focus on the exact precursor molecules and conditions that cause this misfolding. If this can be caught early and stopped, many thousands of people can be saved from this terrible disease.
An unorthodox method of treatment I read on for Alzheimer's disease was actually listening to music. Musical memories are stored in the auditory cortex, a part of the brain that is not affected by Alzheimer's disease. The basis is by having a patient listen to music, it can help the patient remember emotions or experiences associated with that song. For example, an old slow song reminding a patient of their first love or a hit song that takes someone back to a summer some years ago. Interesting concept with a ton of research potential!
The secret to treating Alzheimer's disease (AD) may lie in a medicine that has been promoted as a way to prolong life. Scientists have looked into rapamycin as a potential cure for Alzheimer's disease and are now doing research. An immunosuppressant medication called rapamycin is given to patients getting organ transplants. Rapamycin has been authorized as an immunosuppressant by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There is mounting evidence that it can prevent aging, enhance immunological and cardiac function, and act as an immunosuppressant. Rapamycin appears to effectively prevent and delay the progression of AD in animal model experiments, according to recent research. It can lessen amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, which are characteristics of AD in people. The effectiveness of this medication in treating AD in people with mild cognitive impairment is currently being investigated in a recent phase 2 clinical trial. This medication may be used to treat AD in its early to moderate stages.
Alzheimer's is a complex disease that is not fully understood by scientists and researchers hence the numerous studies currently underway studying the condition. Current treatments consist of cholinesterase inhibitors and even their mechanism of treatment is also not fully understood. I believe genetic therapeutics are the future of disease treatment and there is currently one therapeutic drug, Aducanumab approved to treat early stage Alzheimer's. I read an interesting article in my molecular biology class about researchers working to identify genes that regulate the expression of Alzheimer's in hopes of using them as potential biomarkers for therapies to treat the disease.
@jennifer-sackitey I too believe that Alzheimer's disease is incredibly complex. The disease starts innocuous and hidden in the body. I think if we can identify the cause and the initial impact on the body, then we can develop better therapies and treatments. It is a fact that as humans we are living longer, so diseases like Alzheimer's will become more prevalent, but is it a natural part of aging or is it nature? We do not know the cause of Alzheimer's and we cannot pinpoint significant contributing factors besides age. I think there are many contributing factors from our environment that are progressing the disease. We are starting to see more immunocompromising diseases arise and there are studies coming out that are contributing our diet to various diseases.
Aducanumab is the first drug/therapy that has been approved by the FDA to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical trials has displayed is effectiveness in reducing the accumulation beta-amyloid. Which leads to the cognitive and functional decline of the brain in patients with Alzheimers. However, controversy has surrounded the therapy. As one third of participants have developed amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) during clinical trials. Studies have shown that around 65% of ARIAs pose no clinical symptoms. However, wihtin a small number of individuals the effects of ARIAs can be serve or even fatal.
There is a new drug that was approved by the FDA as a treatment for early Alzheimer's called Lecanemab in January of this year (2023). It is currently marketed under the name Leqembi. In people with early Alzheimer's disease, Lecanemab—a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds to A soluble protofibrils with great affinity—is being studied. Lecanemab decreased amyloid indicators in early Alzheimer's disease, and moderately slowed cognitive and functional decline compared to placebo after 18 months, however, it was also linked to adverse side effects.
