Despite some progress, Alzheimer's fight falling flat
It's a devastating disease driving a dementia epidemic ruining tens of
millions of lives, but with no new medical treatment since the turn of
the century the fight against Alzheimer's is foundering.
Despite decades of research and hundreds of millions of dollars, the
precise cause of the neurodegenerative disease -- which leaves victims
suffering from memory loss, disorientation and behavioural problems --
remains poorly understood.
"It's a bit like solving a jigsaw puzzle without knowing what the end
result needs to look like," said Pierre Tariot, director of the Banner
Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
This year alone, pharmaceutical giants -- including Lundbeck, Takeda,
Merck & Co, Janssen Biotech, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly -- have
either halted or failed in their search for a new Alzheimer's drug.
US drug giant Pfizer said in January it was abandoning all research into the disease.
The problem, according to Marie Sarazin, director of neurology at the
Saint-Anne hospital in Paris, is that scientific research has followed
"the same track" for decades.
After trials on mice focused on diseased neurons in the brain appeared
to produce a breakthrough in the early 2000s, many corporations "thought
they'd hit the jackpot", Sarazin said.
But follow up research has so far failed to produce a new medical
treatment for Alzheimer's. Indeed, the long-held hypothesis over what
causes the disease in the first place is now being reconsidered.
- Astronomical cost -
Alzheimer's occurs when neurons in the brain lose their ability to
communicate with one another, leading patients to struggle to remember
names and places, orientate themselves or interact with loved ones.
Worldwide, about seven percent of people over 65 suffer from the disease
or some form of dementia, a percentage that rises to 40 percent above
the age of 85.
The number afflicted is expected to triple by 2050 to 152 million,
according to the World Health Organization, posing a huge challenge to
healthcare systems.
Alzheimer's cost an estimated $818 billion (700 billion euros) in 2015
-- equivalent to around one percent of global GDP, and this is predicted
to double by 2030.
Friday is World Alzheimer's Day, an event launched in 2012 to raise global awareness of the disease.
It comes this year with a glimmer of promise for a breakthrough: a joint
US-Japanese clinical trial of an antibody designed to breakdown
proteins thought to hamper neuroactivity significantly helped the brain
function of test subjects.
On Wednesday, a team of scientists in the US said they had eliminated
dead-but-toxic cells occurring naturally in the brains of mice designed
to mimic Alzheimer's and slowed neuron damage and memory loss associated
with the disease.
But with developed nations dealing with the health challenges posed by
ageing populations, many experts agree that more attention must focus on
prevention as well as cure.
Exercise, drinking less alcohol and eating a balanced diet have all shown to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's.
"It seems that like in any other neurodegenerative disease, the key will
be to go into prevention, as early as possible before signs and
symptoms of the pathology occurs," Danny Bar-Zohar, global head of
neuroscience development at Novartis, told AFP.
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