No disease is more daunting than Alzheimer’s disease, the dominant form of dementia, which robs people of their independence, their dignity, and zest for life. It destroys language, memory, and logical thought, and any semblance of their identity. Sadly, it’s a disease that afflicts more than 6 million people a year in the United States alone, and more than 50 million worldwide.
But today, thanks to a new generation of medical pioneers, there’s good reason for optimism. They’re turning their backs to old assumptions and looking for new factors, like neuroinflammation, that might be fueling the building of two proteins — amyloid and tau — that cause plaque in the brain. Because of this new approach to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s, great progress has been made, and new clinical modalities such as molecular pharmacology, immunology, neurosurgery, and even gene therapy may be widely available within the next five years.
One of the leading scientists in the world of Alzheimer’s Disease is Dr. Rudy Tanzi, director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and vice chair of neurology and co-director of the McCance Center for Brain Health. Much of what we know about the elusive Alzheimer’s disease is founded on his research, including his successful cloning of beta-amyloid, and the discovery of the amyloid precursor (APP) gene.
Here are a handful of possible solutions to Alzheimer’s that Dr. Tanzi, along with other trailblazing scientists, have been working on in an effort to eradicate the disease completely.
Alzheimer’s Discovery Platform Dr. Tanzi has created a new drug discovery platform he calls “Alzheimer’s in a dish” that will make testing drugs for Alzheimer’s ten times faster and ten times cheaper. So far, he has identified more than fifty drugs that prevent dangerous proteins from taking root.
A Simple Blood Test to Predict Alzheimer’s Dr. Tanzi has also created a simple blood test that can predict Alzheimer’s years before symptoms with up to 96% accuracy, enabling people to take protective measures to supplement protein levels and keep amyloid levels low, which some experts believe can prevent Alzheimer’s.
Altering MicrobiomesOne of Dr. Tanzi’s companies, Marvel Biome, has discovered that the relationship between the brain and gut is a two-way street. In patients with Alzheimer’s, the gut microbiome gets out of whack. When they altered the diets of mice in a study, they found a dramatic reduction in amyloid and neuroinflammation — specifically, six kinds of bacteria that prevent oxidative stress. The idea is to take these bacteria, figure out which metabolites within them are helpful, and make them available to people. They are currently in clinical trials.
Taming Microglia with CD33 Dr. Tanzi has also discovered that a mutant form of the gene CD33 can protect people from Alzheimer’s. It stops the brain’s protective immune cells, called microglia, from going rogue. Normally microglia are protective, but without warning, they can cause neuroinflammation that kills neurons. Most anti-inflammatories can’t reach the brain or involve too many risks, but AZTherapies, a startup co-founded by Dr. Tanzi, is concluding a Phase 3 trial to tame the microglia.
Arethusta to Clear Toxins Created by biotech company Leucadia, Arethusta is an experimental technology that restores cerebrospinal fluid and clear toxins from the brain. It is intended to be a safe and simple shunt that can be implanted through the nose, allowing people to escape Alzheimer’s even if they have MCI, mild cognitive impairment. Next steps include clinical trials and the FDA approval process.
Blood Plasma Treatments Small pilot studies have indicated that blood plasma may be an effective way to mitigate symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Therapeutic plasma exchange swaps a person’s blood plasma with donated blood products to strain out toxins. In animal studies, when plasma from young, healthy mice was infused into mice bred to have Alzheimer’s, the ailing mice experienced an improvement in cognition. And when 322 patients with Alzheimer’s got multiple infusions of enriched plasma, their cognitive decline slowed down.
Vaxxinity Vaccine: An Alzheimer’s vaccine in late-stage clinical trials that has slowed disease progression with few unwanted side effects. Just one shot from Vaxxinity’s vaccine every three to six months may train your immune system to fight Alzheimer’s, reduce the number of brain amyloid deposits, and enhance mental functioning.
Psychedelic Mushrooms Believe it or not, a blend of psychedelic mushrooms that trains fungi’s healing effects on neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s has shown positive side effects. Lion’s Mane mushrooms have induced cognitive improvements in dementia patients, and as a bonus, they taste like lobster.
ISRIB to Restore Memories The common belief has been that once a person’s brain begins to deteriorate, memories and cognitive function are lost forever. And yet new research from USCF studying animals has demonstrated the brain does NOT permanently lose essential cognitive capacities and memories as previously thought. Rather, these resources have become trapped and blocked, and by reconnecting the communication between parts of the brain, they can be restored.
Of course, there are simple but effective measures you can take to boost brain health and prevent the onset of Alzheimers just by making healthy lifestyle choices. Getting enough sleep, reducing stress, having plenty of social interaction, exercising, being intellectually stimulated, and maintaining a low-sugar diet can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Consistent, systematic workouts for your brain can also ward off mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s. While crossword puzzles and Sudoku don’t help much, learning a new language, or practicing the piano, can be beneficial. Video games have also shown potential to help healthy people stay sharp and become even sharper.
