A Cure for Alzheimer Disease? A sweet and sour message

ymedan

This week there were 2 announcements;

1. Another AD drug failed a human clinical trial. See https://statnews.com/2019/03/21/alzheimers-amyloid-time-to-do-something-else

2. Sound intervention clears Amyloid plaques. See https://www.medgadget.com/2019/03/light-and-sound-induce-brainwaves-to-clear-brains-of-amyloid-plaques.html

NickOttens

@SamBlake, this may be of interest to you.

SamBlake

With respect to the sound & light therapy, the big question is whether it will translate to humans. I've heard many people (e.g. Dale Bredesen) suggest that what we call Alzheimer's will ultimately be shown to be an umbrella term for a collection of distinct diseases. It makes me wonder if therapeutic development should target more precise populations. This, of course, would limit the ROI upside, but perhaps it would increase the probability of showing efficacy...

NickOttens

@rbrinton and @dcherry, you may be interested in this as well. What are your thoughts on what Sam wrote?

ymedan

OK, I think I nailed it down (and I may be absolutely wrong).

AD may be triggered by the brain lymphatic vessels becoming less functional (more rigid), as pointed out by Da Mesquita et al. . This could be compared to atherosclerosis. A. Blum has developed a method for assessing endothelial cell vitality and I wonder if a similar measure can be developed for the brain lymph system.

If true, this could explain the successful studies in AD mice using Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound. Afterall, when a sewer is blocked, we intervene mechanically to remove the blockage rather than throwing more substance at it.

Until then, keep all your vessels flexible and stay healthy!