Alzheimer’s disease has always been a difficult illness to treat and so far there is no permanent cure. However, researchers may have just discovered a breakthrough that may not cure the disease, but at least slow down its progression.
Clinical trials have been taking place at Sacramento’s Sutter Neuroscience Institutive that some Alzheimer’s patients are adamant has slowed or stopped their disease. However, they are only four years into the five-year program, so is too soon for scientists to confirm exactly how well patients are responding. Across the nation, similar trials are underway, all with their focus on Amyloid – the protein that attaches itself to brain cells and causes Alzheimer’s. Although none have been approved by the FDA just yet, a few are in their final stages.
Much work has been put into the trials and doctors are confident that they are working and that the treatments are slowing down the progression of the disease. There are currently around 5,000 researchers across the country that are conducting trials into Alzheimer’s treatments. Without these new treatments, statistics suggest there will be as many as 13.8 million Alzheimer’s sufferers by 2050.
The cost of researching Alzheimer’s has doubled in the last five years, reaching a massive $991 million in 2016. But, there is still a long way to go and researchers estimate that cost around $2 billion over the next decade before the goals set put by the National Alzheimer’s Project Act will be achieved. The new treatments are expected to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by around 25 to 33 percent, but they will not cure it.
Alzheimer’s disease is an age-related disease, and most cases are found in those aged 65 or older. Slowing down the progression of illness by just five years would almost halve the cost and number of Alzheimer’s patients. Previously, doctors had great difficulty in diagnosing the disease until it had an onset, but now, thanks to advancements in technology, they can now diagnose it 10 to 15 years before symptoms even begin to show. This is done through the use of PET scans that will check for amyloid plaque deposits in the person’s brain. Although the scans can cost as much as $4,000 a time, they are more effective and more accurate in diagnosing Alzheimer’s than any spinal fluid or genetic test.
During the trials, patients are monitored over a period of 12 months to check the number of diagnostic tests, emergency room visits and hospital admissions they had compared to the non-PET scan group. These results are then analyzed to develop more specialized diagnosis detection tools for Alzheimer’s. The national Alzheimer’s Association runs a free match-up service where a person’s results from an online questionnaire are matched with a relevant trial that is in place that may range from brain imaging to blood work to behavioral modification. But rest assured, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for Alzheimer’s patients and significant changes could be coming sooner than expected.
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