More than 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. This is a progressive brain disease that destroys brain cells causing impairment in mental function and is the current 6 th leading cause of death in the United States. It is also responsible for 50 to 70 percent of dementia (memory loss that interferes with daily tasks) cases.
There is currently not a cure to Alzheimer’s disease, only a treatment for its symptoms, but there is hope for the future; thanks to British scientists who are experimenting with a new drug for this unstoppable disease called CPHPC. During trials they found out that this drug penetrated the brain, removed a protein called serum amyloid P component (SAP), and had no apparent side effects. SAP is a protein that accumulates in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, so it may be a good therapeutic target.
This information was published in the PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science). Hopefully, these findings will lead the way to further clinical studies to observe whether longer treatment with CPHPC protects against the inevitable decline of mental status in Alzheimer's patients.
More than 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. This is a progressive brain disease that destroys brain cells causing impairment in mental function and is the current 6 th leading cause of death in the United States. It is also responsible for 50 to 70 percent of dementia (memory loss that interferes with daily tasks) cases.
There is currently not a cure to Alzheimer’s disease, only a treatment for its symptoms, but there is hope for the future; thanks to British scientists who are experimenting with a new drug for this unstoppable disease called CPHPC. During trials they found out that this drug penetrated the brain, removed a protein called serum amyloid P component (SAP), and had no apparent side effects. SAP is a protein that accumulates in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, so it may be a good therapeutic target.
This information was published in the PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science). Hopefully, these findings will lead the way to further clinical studies to observe whether longer treatment with CPHPC protects against the inevitable decline of mental status in Alzheimer's patients.