New drug could treat Alzheimer's
A new drug, with no obvious side-effects, has shown promise as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s.
According to The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a drug called CPHPC, developed by UK scientists, removes a protein from the blood - serum amyloid P component (SAP) - thought to play a key role in the disease’s development.
The damaging protein is normally present in the clumps and nerve fibres in the brains of sufferers of Alzheimer’s. However, after just three months of receiving the drug, the protein disappeared from the brains of the five Alzheimer’s patients taking part in tests at the University College London. Although the researchers expected the volume of the substance to decrease, they were taken aback at the extent of the effect of the drug which, in addition, was shown to have no adverse effect on patients.
Such is attributable to one of two major advantages of CPHPC, the first being the fact that it has a specific action which reduces its interaction with other cells and hence the risk of side effects, and the second being that the drug is not broken down once inside the body.
"The complete disappearance of SAP from the brain during treatment with CPHPC could not have been confidently predicted, and the drug, also to our surprise, entered the brain” commented lead researcher Professor Mark Pepys.
However, although the research is promising, Dr Suzanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, has reminded the public that "It's very exciting that this drug could potentially interfere with this process, but it's too early to say how much it will benefit people with the disease." Longer and larger scale clinical studies are now being planned, as the three-month period was too short to show the any real clinical benefits of the drug.
Read the New You article Avoiding Alzheimer's for advice on preventative treatment
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