Major Breakthrough In Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer which is the most common form of dementia, and directly affects more than 27 million people worldwide (approximately 5.4 million in the U.S.) and even more second-hand, may soon be very treatable disease. The findings of a new study has just been published, so far it has only been tested on mice, but the researchers seem optimistic that it will be viable for humans.

Bexarotene has been approved for the treatment of cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for more than a decade. These experiments explored whether the medication might also be used to help patients with Alzheimer's disease, and the results were more than promising.

In particular, the researchers were struck by the speed with which bexarotene improved memory deficits and behavior even as it also acted to reverse the pathology of Alzheimer's disease.

source

Bexarotene is already a drug approved by the FDA, and it has been used in the treatment of various froms of cancer. Bexarotene is also a retinoid, which is a chemical compound related to vitamin A.

Furthermore, let's hear what the researchers has to say...

"This is an unprecedented finding," says Paige Cramer, PhD candidate at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and first author of the study. "Previously, the best existing treatment for Alzheimer's disease in mice required several months to reduce plaque in the brain." (OP's note, now this only takes a fraction of the time)

Added Professor Landreth: "This is a particularly exciting and rewarding study because of the new science we have discovered and the potential promise of a therapy for Alzheimer's disease. (...) We are at an early stage in translating this basic science discovery into a treatment.

Seems to me that there are good reasons to be optimistic for the future treatment of Alzheimer! Additionally, this treatment may also be fast tracked to the point of clinical trials as Bexarotene has a good safety and side-effect profile, this according to the article. I would recommend to visit the source article for a good rudimentary understanding of how this treatment works.

What are the negative side effects of the drug?

Edit: I looked at the linked post. I saw that the article says:

Bexarotene has a good safety and side-effect profile. The Case Western Reserve researchers hope these attributes will help speed the transition to clinical trials of the drug.

Hopefully no negatives, and if it's true hopefully it works in clinical trials.

reply to post by Droogie


I'll be happy to see it, just a shame its too late for my mom.But I'll be glad when the day comes that others won't have to watch their parents slowly die this way.

reply to post by Droogie
As a person who's field is in neurobiology, I appreciate the news!

The big stumbling block (from what I understand) was getting a compound complex enough to tackle the a-beta amyloid while small enough (molecular weight) to pass through the blood-brain barrier.

Thanks for the update.
*cheers*

reply to post by InFriNiTee


As with most drugs there are side-effects, but regarding bexarotene, it doesn't seem more serious than ibuprofen. You can read about it here

reply to post by Dimithae


I'm sad to hear that, I've heard alzheimer is worse for family members and friends rather than the one that has the disease. It truly is a horrible affliction. Hopefully this treatment will prove to be viable for humans and turn it into a condition that can be managed.

reply to post by beezzer


Thanks for providing an insight as to what the challenges of this were. Glad you appreciate the news!

My main question is this a long or short answer?

Originally posted by chevy369
My main question is this a long or short answer?

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking about, but I'll take a guess. I assume you're wondering if this is a long term solution or a short one?

The article doesn't specify, but it's my presumption that it's a long term treatment that has the potential to develop into a cure. Bexarotene is also meant to be ingested orally, and I also assume it will be in the form of a pill as it is a solid white powder, it'll only need a binding agent, as far as I can tell.

This is welcome news indeed. I work on the geriatric unit in a Psychiatric Hospital, mostly dementia patients. Lewy Body is worse, but a cure for Alzheimers would be wonderful indeed. It's devestating on the family and caregivers.

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04
This is welcome news indeed. I work on the geriatric unit in a Psychiatric Hospital, mostly dementia patients. Lewy Body is worse, but a cure for Alzheimers would be wonderful indeed. It's devestating on the family and caregivers.

"..."This is an unprecedented finding," says Paige Cramer, PhD candidate at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and first author of the study. "Previously, the best existing treatment for Alzheimer's disease in MICE MICE MICE required several months to reduce plaque in the brain of MICE MICE MICE.

This research is a joke.

people are not MICE.



The drugs been out for more than 10 years and millions of people still suffer alzheimers.

proof the drug is crap.

i doubt this drug works at all.no doubt the figures were messaged by the scientists to save their careers after spending 3 years and $2 million of the company's money.

marketing spin.

The FDA is rotten and corrupt to the core with "donations" and "staff" from big pharma in the millions.

HERE IS HOW THE FIGURES ARE COOKED:-


cognitive impairment was 5% without the drug says big pharma

cognitive impairment was 3% with the drug.2% improvement says big pharma.

hence 3% divided by 5% = 60% "improvement" says chemical man is that not wonderful?

or 2% divided by 5% = 40% "improvement".

buy buy our drug now...

...this is how ALL these figures are generated.

a big scam.


did you not see that interview on ATS with the women who cured her 53 year old husband who was about to be put into a nursing home?


best 30 minutes i ever spent

why don't you do something useful with your life by trying that instead...but you can't do that because you will be fired as that will impact the bottom line.all the units get special discounts and perks for using these psycho drugs.