A new drug against Alzheimer's disease called CPHPC, a protein known as serum amyloid P component (SAP) developed by
British researchers (I believe in collaboration with Roche), has shown promise in tests on a handful of
patients. Researchers found CPHPC caused the disappearance of the protein SAP which is thought to be
involved in the disease, from the brains of five Alzheimer's patients
who took it for three months. CPHPC targets SAP and removes it from the blood.
The results were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Larger scale clinical studies are now planned. Details on the research can be found here.
Despite the fact that up to one third of patients with severe dementia are tube fed, there is no evidence that this practice prolongs survival or improves quality of life, according to a report in the online issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. In fact, some data suggest that tube feeding may actually increase the death rate and the number of new illnesses, and decrease the quality of life.
By searching through multiple healthcare databases, Sampson and associates at the Royal Free & University College Medical School, London, identified seven observational studies that compared groups of patients with dementia who did and those who did not undergo tube feeding. Of the 1821 subjects, ages 63 to 107 years, 409 were tube fed. Reasons for tube placement included inadequate food consumption, weight loss, refusal to eat and trouble swallowing. None of the studies found a significant association between tube feeding and decreased risk of death, improved nutrition, or incidence of bed sores, the review indicates, and none of the studies evaluated quality of life or physical function.
Couple of interesting announcements this week:
One: UK drug shows early promise against Alzheimer's
A new drug against Alzheimer's disease called CPHPC, a protein known as serum amyloid P component (SAP) developed by British researchers (I believe in collaboration with Roche), has shown promise in tests on a handful of patients. Researchers found CPHPC caused the disappearance of the protein SAP which is thought to be involved in the disease, from the brains of five Alzheimer's patients who took it for three months. CPHPC targets SAP and removes it from the blood.
The results were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Larger scale clinical studies are now planned. Details on the research can be found here.
Two: No benefit from tube feeding in advanced dementia
Despite the fact that up to one third of patients with severe dementia are tube fed, there is no evidence that this practice prolongs survival or improves quality of life, according to a report in the online issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. In fact, some data suggest that tube feeding may actually increase the death rate and the number of new illnesses, and decrease the quality of life.
By searching through multiple healthcare databases, Sampson and associates at the Royal Free & University College Medical School, London, identified seven observational studies that compared groups of patients with dementia who did and those who did not undergo tube feeding. Of the 1821 subjects, ages 63 to 107 years, 409 were tube fed. Reasons for tube placement included inadequate food consumption, weight loss, refusal to eat and trouble swallowing. None of the studies found a significant association between tube feeding and decreased risk of death, improved nutrition, or incidence of bed sores, the review indicates, and none of the studies evaluated quality of life or physical function.