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+--- Thread: New Alzheimer's treatment reverses memory loss (/thread-3324.html)
New Alzheimer's treatment reverses memory loss - Magical Realist - Feb 1, 2017
This is really extraordinary news, albeit dating back to 2015. Still, if you didn't know it's news to you!
http://www.sciencealert.com/new-alzheimer-s-treatment-fully-restores-memory-function
"Australian researchers have come up with a non-invasive ultrasound technology that clears the brain of neurotoxic amyloid plaques - structures that are responsible for memory loss and a decline in cognitive function in Alzheimer’s patients.
If a person has Alzheimer’s disease, it’s usually the result of a build-up of two types of lesions - amyloid plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. Amyloid plaques sit between the neurons and end up as dense clusters of beta-amyloid molecules, a sticky type of protein that clumps together and forms plaques.
Neurofibrillary tangles are found inside the neurons of the brain, and they’re caused by defective tau proteins that clump up into a thick, insoluble mass. This causes tiny filaments called microtubules to get all twisted, which disrupts the transportation of essential materials such as nutrients and organelles along them, just like when you twist up the vacuum cleaner tube.
As we don’t have any kind of vaccine or preventative measure for Alzheimer’s - a disease that affects 343,000 people in Australia, and 50 million worldwide - it’s been a race to figure out how best to treat it, starting with how to clear the build-up of defective beta-amyloid and tau proteins from a patient’s brain. Now a team from the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) at the University of Queensland have come up with a pretty promising solution for removing the former.
Publishing in Science Translational Medicine, the team describes the technique as using a particular type of ultrasound called a focused therapeutic ultrasound, which non-invasively beams sound waves into the brain tissue. By oscillating super-fast, these sound waves are able to gently open up the blood-brain barrier, which is a layer that protects the brain against bacteria, and stimulate the brain’s microglial cells to activate. Microglial cells are basically waste-removal cells, so they’re able to clear out the toxic beta-amyloid clumps that are responsible for the worst symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
The team reports fully restoring the memory function of 75 percent of the mice they tested it on, with zero damage to the surrounding brain tissue. They found that the treated mice displayed improved performance in three memory tasks - a maze, a test to get them to recognise new objects, and one to get them to remember the places they should avoid.
"We’re extremely excited by this innovation of treating Alzheimer’s without using drug therapeutics," one of the team, Jürgen Götz, said in a press release. "The word ‘breakthrough’ is often misused, but in this case I think this really does fundamentally change our understanding of how to treat this disease, and I foresee a great future for this approach."
The team says they’re planning on starting trials with higher animal models, such as sheep, and hope to get their human trials underway in 2017. "
RE: New Alzheimer's treatment reverses memory loss - C C - Feb 1, 2017
(Feb 1, 2017 07:22 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: [...] The team says they’re planning on starting trials with higher animal models, such as sheep, and hope to get their human trials underway in 2017."
Despite this transpiring in Australia, it reminds me of Trump meeting with the eight pharmaceutical company executives yesterday. To negotiate bringing some lost drug manufacturing back from Eastern Europe and lowering prices in exchange for reducing the numbers of years its takes (even after the testing) for government agency to approve a specific drug. As if the existing, lengthier procedural process hasn't already been compromised and sloppily released questionable pharmaceuticals (what might retrospectively seem "questionable" in terms of the bevy of lawsuits ensuing or later medical findings, anyway).
RE: New Alzheimer's treatment reverses memory loss - RainbowUnicorn - Feb 6, 2017
(Feb 1, 2017 07:50 PM)C C Wrote:the real issue is all about the money.(Feb 1, 2017 07:22 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: [...] The team says they’re planning on starting trials with higher animal models, such as sheep, and hope to get their human trials underway in 2017."
Despite this transpiring in Australia, it reminds me of Trump meeting with the eight pharmaceutical company executives yesterday. To negotiate bringing some lost drug manufacturing back from Eastern Europe and lowering prices in exchange for reducing the numbers of years its takes (even after the testing) for government agency to approve a specific drug. As if the existing, lengthier procedural process hasn't already been compromised and sloppily released questionable pharmaceuticals (what might retrospectively seem "questionable" in terms of the bevy of lawsuits ensuing or later medical findings, anyway).
if foriegn countrys choose not to copy the legal protections for coywrites and patents then the companys will remain inside the usa.
with the ever increasing animosity from the american government toward other allied countries it is only a matter of time before those countries start making their own cheap version of these drugs.
the pharm-cos are probably moving now to avoid the coming backlash created by the current US government.
considering how many billions of dollars are at stake they would be stupid not to be setting up some fall-back options.
RE: New Alzheimer's treatment reverses memory loss - Zinjanthropos - Feb 6, 2017
I can read one article that says sound waves cause developmental brain tissue to heat up in fetuses causing autism while another that says it destroys plaques and tangles in the brain, thus fixing Alzheimer's.
Don't know which way to turn with every medical news release. It's like watching Wolf Blitzer.
RE: New Alzheimer's treatment reverses memory loss - RainbowUnicorn - Feb 6, 2017
(Feb 6, 2017 04:14 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: I can read one article that says sound waves cause developmental brain tissue to heat up in fetuses causing autism while another that says it destroys plaques and tangles in the brain, thus fixing Alzheimer's.
Don't know which way to turn with every medical news release. It's like watching Wolf Blitzer.
have you watched the documentary about the egyptian acoustic temples ?
"ancient sound healing"
(i had quick look to try and find it but can not as yet)
http://www.tokenrock.com/sound_healing/sounds_of_the_ancients.php
sorry for the lack of scientific links. these type of subjects are heavily laden with all sorts of whacky conspiracy click bait click harvesting pop-up rubbish.
this looks interesting(trying to find something scientific and unbiased)
http://www.trinfinity8.com/rediscovering-the-healing-temples-of-saqqara/
RE: New Alzheimer's treatment reverses memory loss - Zinjanthropos - Feb 6, 2017
You would think that in every hospital, clinic or ward that music would be playing constantly if its healing powers were that great.
RE: New Alzheimer's treatment reverses memory loss - Ben the Donkey - Feb 16, 2017
(Feb 1, 2017 07:50 PM)C C Wrote: Despite this transpiring in Australia...
Oh, ye of little faith.
Which is not to say you're not quite correct.
Australia has become quite disappointing these days, resting as it does on a culture and history of simply getting things done, yet with the reality of us becoming more like you with every passing decade looming rather dejectedly over the horizon.
We aren't what we were.
Kilroy was 'ere.
See, it even matters that I used Kilroy rather than Foo.