I think an anti old age drug , to give us immortality will be
found soon. Of course the religious nuts will say non existent cruel
God did it first - Methesulah
Further research is needed into a US treatment for Alzheimer's disease
that appears to produce marked improvements in some patients, experts
say.
California researchers believe they have found a way of improving
brain cell communication by injecting a drug called etanercept into
the neck.
The Institute for Neurological Research team has described changes
taking place in Alzheimer's patients within minutes.
British experts have expressed caution, but say further research is
merited.
More than 400,000 people in the UK have Alzheimer's disease.
Current medication can slow the disease, but charities say there is a
desperate need for research to develop more effective treatments.
Improvements
Doctors in California have devised a novel approach, injecting
anti-arthritic drug etanercept into the neck, and then tilting the
patient to encourage blood flow into the brain.
About 50 people are being treated at the private clinic.
Some have been taking etanercept for more than three years. Doctors
re****t a response rate of about 90%, usually within minutes.
They say typically they see a week-by-week improvement with each dose,
reaching a plateau after about three months.
Professor Edward Tobinick, who leads the research, said: "What we see
is an improvement in their ability to think and calculate, their
memory improves, their verbal ability improves, they find words
easier, they seem happier, and we often also see an improvement in
gait in those patients whose gait is affected."
But he warned they did not return to normal.
I think it is the time to run a small clinical trial
Dr Suzanne Sorensen, of the Alzheimer's Society
In video footage, supplied and edited by the clinic, a nurse sits down
with 82-year old Marvin Miller, who frowns and mumbles incoherently as
she asks him a series of basic questions.
He fails to recognise everyday objects including a bracelet and a
pencil. Shortly afterwards he is injected with his first dose of
etanercept.
Five minutes later - according to the footage - he greets his wife,
who stands visibly shocked, saying he has not recognised her for
years.
Mr Miller then embraces her.
In a separate interview, again supplied by the clinic, she describes
his improvements four weeks later.
She says he makes sense 90% of the time now, compared with none of the
time before treatment started.
Etanercept is not a new drug. It is a widely used treatment for
arthritis, blocking a chemical called tumour necrosis factor-alpha, or
TNF, which causes pain and swelling in the joints.
TNF may also affect communication between brain cells - and could be
partly to blame for the advance of Alzheimer's.
The researchers in Los Angeles believe they have discovered a way of
delivering etanercept into the brain via an injection in the neck,
allowing it to block the disruption caused by TNF.
However, many experts are sceptical.
Study
The numbers involved are very small, and crucially, there has never
been a placebo-controlled study.
But Dr Suzanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society,
said there was growing interest in this new approach.
"We haven't heard any realistic accounts of people improving that
much. And that is why when we first heard about it in January I didn't
really believe it to be honest.
"But we have now seen film footage of people improving remarkably very
soon after having been given the drug and many more people have now
been treated with this drug. So I think it is the time to run a small
clinical trial."
Professor Clive Holmes, of Southampton University, said he was willing
to take this on, although funding had yet to be secured.
"I think the evidence that's coming through from basic science would
suggest to me that there is now a point at which it's worth giving
these drugs a trial to see if there is any evidence on a larger scale
basis".
...
Stem cells offer a potential way to repair cartilage damaged by
osteoarthritis, say scientists.
They have identified a type of stem cell which can be transformed into
cartilage cells known as chondrocytes.
In theory, it should be possible to create new chondrocytes in
sufficient numbers to achieve a real therapeutic effect for
osteoarthritis patients.
The Cardiff University work was presented to the UK National Stem Cell
Network Annual Science Meeting.
If we can translate these successes from the laboratory into
treating patients the possibility opens up of making a remarkable
impact on this common painful and disabling condition
Professor Alan Silman
Arthritis Research Campaign
Osteoarthritis, which affects more than two million people in the UK,
occurs when changes in the make-up of the body's cartilage causes
joints to fail to work properly.
At its worse it can bring about the break-up of cartilage, causing the
ends of the bones in the joint to rub against each other.
This results in severe pain and deformation of the joint.
One current treatment for younger patients is to harvest cartilage
cells from neighbouring healthy cartilage and transplant them into the
damaged area. Unfortunately, only a limited number of cells can be
generated.
Immature stem cells have the ability to become any tissue in the body.
However, the cell identified by the Cardiff team is at a more advanced
stage, where it has lost some of its plasticity but not its ability to
become a chondrocyte if cultured in the lab in the right way.
Real benefits
Lead researcher Professor Charlie Archer said: "We have identified a
cell which, when grown in the lab, can produce enough of a person's
own cartilage that it could be effectively transplanted.
"There are limitations in trying to transplant a patient's existing
cartilage cells but, by culturing it from a resident stem cell, we
believe we can overcome this limitation.
"This research could have real benefits for arthritis sufferers and
especially younger active patients with cartilage lesions that can
progress to whole scale osteoarthritis."
The Cardiff team have now started animal tests, and hope to launch a
clinical trial next year.
Professor Alan Silman, medical director of the Arthritis Research
Campaign, which part-funded the study, said: "How to stop or even
reverse the wearing away of cartilage that is the hallmark of
osteoarthritis has been a treatment goal which up to now has not
proved possible.
"If we can translate these successes from the laboratory into treating
patients the possibility opens up of making a remarkable impact on
this common painful and disabling condition."
bbc.co.uk
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