Looking Beyond Beta-Amyloid

I spent most of last night helping my husband bottle up over 8 gallons of honey from two of his hives.  We have more to do tomorrow, but I think we're about 3/4 of the way through the frames he pulled from his hives.  As a result, I didn't have much time to write and a link from a friend provided an interesting tidbit of news.

Scientists have long focused on beta-amyloid in their search for an Alzheimer's treatment.  An article on NPR yesterday indicates that some are moving beyond beta-amyloid in a search for a treatment, focusing instead on stopping the buildup of both tau and beta-amyloid by preventing proteins from misfolding.  While this approach will not cure Alzheimer's, the hope is to slow the progression of the disease.  The article discusses two companies targeting misfiled proteins, one of which uses a virus.  It is an interesting article and worth a read.

Not to sound like a broken record, but both treatments have been shown effective in mice.  Mice are different animals than humans and we have yet to see a treatment that works successfully, even minimally, for humans even though several have worked on mice.  So, for now, I'll remain cautiously optimistic.

Comments

  1. Blueberries seem to help some if taken several times a day. At least a cupful, each time. Something about the chemical makeup of those berries.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts