Alzheimer's is a disease that causes severe short term memory loss. As the disease progresses, the memories get vaguer and vaguer, eventually a victim may not even remember his/her children's or spouse's names. It is an extremely scary and unfortunate disease.
Now, a nasal vaccine is being developed to help save the brain from both Alzheimer's and strokes. The spray helps to repair vascular damage in the brain.Dr. Frankel and Prof. Howard L. Weiner have been testing the drug. This drug contains a portion that has already been tested as an influenza drug. The vaccine activates macrophages, which clear away waxy amyloid proteins. These amyloid proteins are what cause the harm.
The vaccine has been tested in mice, and is continuing to be tested. It has shown to prevent further vascular damage, and is looking very positive as of now. Hopefully, soon the vaccine will be safe for humans and will be able to help be part of a cure for Alzheimers and strokes.
Themes of NOS:
-Science is based on evidence
-Science is collaborative
-Importance of repeatability
-Role of Credibility
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/02/28/an_alzheimers_vaccine_in_a_nasal_spray.html#comments
I found your article very intriguing. Stimulating an immune system response to eradicate the amyloid proteins is really cool; it's a simple solution to a complex problem. I found an article pertaining to the same idea presented in yours, which illustrates the repeatability of the idea.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130115143852.htm
I think this article is very interesting. There are a lot of drugs out there that scientists are trying, but none of them have seem to work for long term. Scientists are currently looking at what can be done to make the cures more affective and this vaccine that you talked about is the furthest they have come so far.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/in-depth/alzheimers-treatments/art-20047780
I think the most interesting part of this article is how the treatment is applied; via the nose. Scientists have been coming up with ways to treat Alzheimer's, some of which almost work, some of which don't. However, I think that most of these have been complicated and required a lot of work to do. I think this method seems particularly good because it seems easy to do; a nasal spray isn't tiring like dozens of tests and scans would be.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine's grandfather has Alzheimer's; and ever since hearing about it I've always wanted to know more! It's nice to know that there may be a stop to such a scary disease. While reading more about the nasal spray, I found out that nano particles are sent to the brain through these sprays. These are antibodies, and are believed to one day deliver therapies to the brain. Lastly, these antibodies have already been delivered to mice, like said above, which is the same method that could be used for humans.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.salon.com/2013/08/08/will_nasal_spray_help_us_diagnose_alzheimers_earlier_partner/