There have been quite a few experimental treatments for brain health and Alzheimer’s research that get reported as having promising results. Currently there are two latest and greatest hopes: a new drug that I can’t spell from memory yet and ultrasound. They both target amyloid beta plaques that build up in the brain of a person with cognitive dysfunction. For this very reason I do not hold out much hope for these treatments, though I might recommend investing in the drug’s stock.
For any experimental treatment it’s a long process before confirmation for public use. The ultrasound treatment allows passage of micro glial cells between the blood brain barrier to clean up the amyloid beta plaques ………… in mice. Mice have some evolutionary/genetic similarities to humans, the reason why they are used prolifically in health studies. Yet mice brains are not human brains and only a few treatments turn out to be transferable.
A new drug from Biogen has a leg up on the ultrasound treatment in this regards. The corporation has demonstrated Phase I success for their drug to rid amyloid beta plaques and improve mild cognitive dysfunction. Drugs go through five phases of clinical trials, if they last that long. No drug meant to target amyloid beta plaques has passed Phase III. Biogen may have greater promise to go beyond Phase III than previous drugs, some of which has earned companies billions of dollars despite still speculative results. Yet even if this new drug passes all the Phases there remains one small problem: amyloid particles never have been proven to be the actual cause of Alzheimer’s. The particles may be a consequence rather than a cause.
Amyloid beta particles have been shown to actually help alleviate Multiple Sclerosis, another brain disease. How could this possibly be? The possible answer is that these particles are a defense mechanism of the brain, stimulated by diseases rather than causing them. They help an inflammatory disease like MS; against Alzheimer’s they are useless, but that still does not make them the cause. Perhaps something known as tau tangles are the real problem … or perhaps not. No one really knows for sure.
Even should the new drug and/or ultrasound prove to genuinely remedy mild cognitive function, there already are natural “treatments” that do this. The right diet, exercise, activities and quality of life have been shown to reverse cognitive dysfunction with greater certainty than any drug to date, with far less unforeseen consequences popping up (not even succeeding at the Phase III level of clinical trials means that all the consequences have been explored and addressed). This leaves the new Biogen and/or ultrasound to be useful under one of two circumstances.
The first useful circumstance is if these new treatments can remedy moderate to severe cognitive dysfunction. We want Alzheimer’s to be like cancer, something for which the term “remission” can be applied. There is a point of no return for all invading diseases, but Alzheimer’s may be more like cirrhosis of the liver than cancer, featuring an organ that disintegrates to the point of no return.
Still, the mere possibility that future treatments can reverse moderate to severe brain diseases is worth full exploration, but success after the long process needed for this will come long after my lifetime. This brings me to the second useful circumstance for any new treatments; they prove to be as effective as the combination of natural factors already proven to alleviate mild cognitive dysfunction. The advantage with a drug or even ultrasound is that such treatments are more convenient or practical for some than adherence to a healthy lifestyle.
Yet such treatments do not improve happiness or the quality of life, the reason why I post this expose right after my previous “quality of life” post. You can place your hopes in treatments like drugs or ultrasound, with a likely chance there will be no improvement, or you can place your hopes in a lifestyle that will at least improve your happiness and quality of life.
