As you may imagine, as one of the Missouri City area’s premier memory care and senior living providers, Optimum Personal Care makes it a priority to remain closely abreast of brand-new developments in research concerning Alzheimer’s dementia.

Lately, there’ve been some amazing new discoveries that might someday revolutionize the way that we approach Alzheimer’s and dementia treatment. From new Alzheimer’s definitions to gene identification advances and the creation of genetic therapies, there is a lot to learn.

In this post, we would love to share some of the details we have learned about. Promising developments in cognitive studies that might assist folks who develop dementia in the future.

Scientists suggest a new method of distinguishing between Alzheimer’s and additional dementias

Many additional dementia-like disorders present with likewise Alzheimer’s symptoms; therefore, diagnoses traditionally have been made, to some level, by medical assumption: if all additional dementia causes were ruled out, the symptoms have to be Alzheimer’s.

However, new studies are starting to resolve the distinguishing, fine line. An all-new clinical definition of Alzheimer’s was proposed by scientists with the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association.

They advised that Alzheimer’s ought to be formally distinguished by the convergence of 3 characteristic symptoms: a presence of beta-amyloid tau tangles and plaques inside the brain, and proof of neurodegeneration (a decline in brain tissue density, similar to that viewed in this comparative picture here).

Their proposal that’s in line with recent guidelines from both the FDA and its European counterpart, ought to open up paths for medication testing and development.

 Scientists might’ve discovered a route to someday reverse the damages of Alzheimer’s

We now know that a cert gene — APOE ɛ4 — is strongly related to a higher risk of the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The gene will cause the body to generate the APOE ɛ4 protein that might be a precursor promoting beta-amyloid plaques formation.

Having a copy of the gene is well-known to boost someone’s likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s fourfold. Two gene copies raise the likelihood by as high as 12 times.

Recently, scientists working with stem cells had the ability to develop a technique of changing the APOE ɛ4 protein structure to possibly render it harmless. These efforts seem to reverse beta-amyloid plaque development in laboratory-grown tissue.

That is an amazingly critical development. And why is that?

Even though it is much too early to claim that there is a possible cure coming for Alzheimer’s dementia, showing the capability of developing gene therapies targeting the disease’s related (and potential causal) risk factors represents a substantial advance in the hunt for efficient treatments.

 Not all cases of Alzheimer’s are genetic in origin

The argument on whether genetics, acquired factors such as cardiovascular disease, or a little of both eventually lead to all Alzheimer’s cases has been all the rage for decades. The above-mentioned Alzheimer’s dementia definition certainly will aid science in settling that debate.

In the meanwhile, there’s some proof that improving rates of heart fitness (or, at a minimum, improved cardiovascular disease treatments) might be slowing the incidence rate of Alzheimer’s.

At a symposium recently, Dr. Albert Hofman, Harvard T.H. Chan’s School of Public Health’s epidemiology department chair, stated that research has indicated Alzheimer’s occurrence has dropped approximately 20% since the year 1990 in the U.S.

That is interesting. To this day, the conventional view has been that the incidence rate of Alzheimer’s will continually increase as the Baby Boomers grow older.

According to Hofman, he thinks most cases of Alzheimer’s are non-genetic (acquired). If that is a fact, population health efforts to decrease heart disease, head injuries and obesity may yield large reductions in the number of individuals developing Alzheimer’s dementia.

What is on the horizon for Alzheimer’s treatments?

Despite several promising leads, new Alzheimer’s treatments are slow to come on the scene. Existing treatment for Alzheimer’s temporarily improves issues with reasoning and thinking and symptoms of memory loss.

Those treatments for Alzheimer’s increase the performance of chemicals inside the brain which carry data from brain cell to brain cell. But those treatments do not stop the underlying death and decline of brain cells. Alzheimer’s disease, as more cells die, continues to progress.

Specialists are hopeful about developing treatments for Alzheimer’s which may stop or substantially postpone the progression of Alzheimer’s. An increasing understanding of how this disease disrupts the human brain has led to possible Alzheimer’s treatments which short-circuit fundamental disease processes.

Future treatments for Alzheimer’s might involve a blend of medicine, like how treatments for HIV/AIDS or many cancers include more than one drug.

The following options for treatment are among the strategies presently being researched.

Taking aim at plaques

Some new treatments for Alzheimer’s in development target microscopic clumps of plaques (the protein beta-amyloid). Plaques are one characteristic indication of Alzheimer’s disease.

Strategies that are aimed at beta-amyloid involve:

  • Many experimental drugs have the goal of blocking the activity of those enzymes. They are referred to as beta- & gamma-secretase inhibitors. The latest research has shown that verubecestat (a beta-secretase inhibitor) didn’t slow cognitive decline and was related to multiple side effects in the ones who have moderate or mild Alzheimer’s.
  • Production blockers. Those therapies might decrease the quantity of beta-amyloid formed inside the brain. Studies have shown that beta-amyloid is generated from a “parent protein” in 2 steps done by various enzymes.
  • The drug turned off Fyn in mice, which permitted synapses to begin working again, and the mice suffered a reversal of some memory loss. Trials (human) for saracatinib as a potential disease treatment for Alzheimer’s are currently underway.
  • A drug originally created as a potential treatment for cancer — saracatinib — is currently being tested in Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Preventing destruction. Many years ago, scientists learned that beta-amyloid interacts with one other protein referred to as Fyn. Fyn, when combined with beta-amyloid, is over-activated, triggering the destruction of connections between nerve cells in the brain. Research is presently in progress for drugs that inhibit the Fyn protein.
  • Solanezumab, the monoclonal antibody, didn’t show any benefit for people who have moderate or mild Alzheimer’s disease. It is possible that monoclonal antibodies might be more efficient when given earlier in the disease’s course. In recent studies, this drug seemed safe, and the monoclonal antibody continuously is assessed in the preclinical phase of the disease.
  • Immune system recruiting. Many drugs — referred to as monoclonal antibodies — might prevent beta-amyloid from adhering to plaques or remove beta-amyloid plaques which have formed and assist the body in clearing the beta-amyloid from the brain. Monoclonal antibodies imitate the antibodies that the body naturally produces as a part of the immune system’s reaction to vaccines or foreign invaders.

Keeping tau from tangling

An important brain cell transport system will collapse once a protein referred to as tau twists into microscopic fibers named tangles which are one other common brain irregularity of Alzheimer’s. Scientists are researching a way of preventing tau from forming tangles.

Tau vaccines and tau aggregation inhibitors are presently being researched in medical trials. Also read, 7 ways assisted living may improve the quality of life.

Decreasing inflammation

Alzheimer’s causes low-level, chronic brain cell inflammation. Scientists are researching ways to treat inflammatory processes that are at work in Alzheimer’s disease. The drug Leukine (sargramostim) is presently being studied. It is believed that the drug might stimulate the immune system to safeguard the brain from dangerous proteins.

Scientists researched pioglitazone (Actos), the diabetes drug because it might lessen beta-amyloid and inflammation inside the brain; however, the trial was negative.

Studying insulin resistance

Scientists are researching the impact of insulin in the brain, as well as brain cell function, and insulin changes inside the brain which might be associated with Alzheimer’s. A trial that tested an insulin nasal spray that determined if it slows Alzheimer’s progression recently was reported as negative.

Researching the head-heart connection

Increasing evidence implies that brain health is closely connected with blood and heart vessel health. The risk of the development seems to increase as a consequence of multiple conditions which damage the arteries or heart. These include heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, as well as high cholesterol.

Numerous studies are now exploring how better to build on that connection. Strategies that are under investigation involve:

  • Lifestyle choices. Studies imply that lifestyle choices that have known heart benefits, like exercising on the majority of days and consuming a heart-healthy diet, might assist in preventing Alzheimer’s disease or postpone its onset.
  • Drugs that are aimed at new targets. Other projects are looking more closely into how the connection between Alzheimer’s and heart disease works at the molecular level to discover new drug targets.
  • Existing medications for heart disease risk factors. Scientists are investigating if drugs like blood pressure medicines currently utilized in the treatment of vascular disease also may help folks who have Alzheimer’s or decrease the risk of developing this disease.

Hormones

In a study, using estrogen-based hormone therapy for a minimum of one year during early menopause or perimenopause seemed to protect memory and thinking in females who are at a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

However, more studies have been conflicting, with some research indicating that estrogen did not provide any benefit.

Speeding development of treatment

Creating new medications is a painstaking and slow process. The rate may be particularly annoying for those who have Alzheimer’s and their loved ones waiting on new treatment options.

In order to assist in accelerating discovery, the CAMD (Coalition Against Major Diseases) an alliance of nonprofit foundations, government advisers, and pharmaceutical companies, has forged a partnership to share information from Alzheimer’s medical trials.

Also, the CAMD has collaborated with the CDISC (Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium) to develop data standards. Scientists anticipate that those data standards and sharing of data from over 6,500 research participants are going to speed the development of more efficient therapies.

Optimum Personal Care provides customized memory care in Houston treatment plans that are tailored to each resident’s cognitive level and delivered in a warm, home-like setting, of no more than 14 residents each. Please call us today to learn more information about how we can help your loved ones at 281.565.4144.