Alzheimer’s Breakthroughs

Welcome back, everybody. I have prepared

another brand new episode for you today of the Truth, Lies and

Alzheimer's show, and I am, of course, Lisa Skinner, your host.

I'm so glad you could join me today. I am giving everybody an

update on the most current breakthrough discoveries around

Alzheimer's disease, they change on a dime. So I always try to

keep up with everything that's that's, you know, updated and

new. So here we go, of the 57 million people living with

dementia worldwide, 60 to 70% are thought to have Alzheimer's

disease. Now, remember, there are over 100 of these brain

diseases that we know of today. This is just Alzheimer's

disease, which is the most common form of dementia,

Alzheimer's disease is one of the brain disorders

characterized by the slow erosion of a person's memory and

their thinking skills. It is the sixth leading cause of death in

the US, but it's the leading cause of death in the elderly

population in the UK, in Finland, in the Netherlands and

Australia, and while lifestyle changes in medications can help

ease symptoms, unfortunately, there is still no cure, and with

the number of people expected to develop dementia, which is 150

million people by the year 2050 the pressure is on to find a

solution to this debilitating and devastating disease in

recent years, however, a number of breakthrough discoveries

around Alzheimer's in particular have provided some hope, and I'm

going to share eight of them with you now. Number one,

there's actually now an ADHD link. Yes, a new study has found

a possible link between the brain makeup of people with ADHD

and that of old age related dementia such as Alzheimer's

disease, using a combination of MRI brain imaging and blood

tests, the researchers at the University of Geneva compared 32

adults with ADHD to 29 adults without ADHD, and in both cases,

they were aged between 25 and 45 years, and what they found was

that the ADHD adults had more iron in certain regions of their

brain, along with higher levels of neuro filaments in their

blood, both of which are markers for dementia and Alzheimer's

disease. And while it was a small case study, yes,

nevertheless, it paves the way for further research to

determine if a reduction of iron levels in the brain of a person

with ADHD could possibly reduce the likelihood of developing

dementia like Alzheimer's Disease down the line number

two, and we know this already, but there's an update, women are

more susceptible to the disease. Yes, more women do live with

Alzheimer's disease and dementia than men. While it's long been

known that more women than men develop dementia, and in the

case of Alzheimer's, two thirds are women. The reasons why

continue to be debated for many years. It's mainly been put down

to the fact that, on average, women live longer than men.

That's one of the theories. So there will inevitably be a

higher number of female impacted, but recent research

has pinpointed the that menopause as a potential

culprit, close to two thirds

of perimenopausal and post menopause. Women experience

memory issues. That's surprising, and that's reported

by Nature Medicine. The decline in estrogen levels during this

period can result in the female brain starting to consume its

own tissue, according to scientist Roberta Brinton, while

another study, primarily using US data, found that synaptic

dysfunction and elevated tau, which are toxin proteins that

are found in the brain, were more prevalent in menopausal

women who were not on hormone therapy, such as an HRT, all of

which contributes to cognitive decline and incites and

exacerbates Alzheimer's disease progression. And this is a quote

from the study's authors. This is what was revealed in their

findings. They point out that interventions, quote, addressing

both hormonal factors and synaptic health, end quote,

could potentially help stave off Alzheimer's disease in women,

number three breakthrough drugs have been updated. So last year,

we saw the first drugs entered the market to tackle Alzheimer's

disease, donanemab and lecanemab both block harmful proteins in

the brain and can slow decline by around 30% so we thought, and

that was that statistic was reported by The Guardian. Now

the Alzheimer Society found that the drugs could slow down

disease progression by 60% if given at an early stage.

However, other research was less positive, with a UK trial of

lecanemab finding that patients were better off only by point

four, five points on an 18 point scale. That's not very

encouraging. And they are also currently very expensive, around

$27,000 to $34,000 a year for each patient, according to the

Guardian and The UK's National Health Service has recently

announced that it won't be offering them to patients.

Despite these setbacks, the drugs represent a huge leap

forward for Alzheimer's treatment. There are over 120

drugs for Alzheimer's currently at the trial stage, so the

possibility of finding a cure is not totally out of our reach.

Number Four new tests for Alzheimer's that are available

in the US, there is a new blood test that's been approved by the

FDA to help identify Alzheimer's in its earliest stages, and

until now, the only diagnostic option has been an expensive pet

brain scan or an invasive lumbar puncture test. But now, anyone

over the age of 55 who is exhibiting Alzheimer's symptoms

can get a blood test to establish if any amyloid

plaques, which are key markers of the disease, are present in

clinical studies, the blood test correctly identified the

presence of these amyloid plaques in over 91% of cases,

with clinicians making the final call as to Whether Alzheimer's

was the cause. Alzheimer's disease impacts too many people,

more than breast cancer and more than prostate cancer combined.

That's a quote from the FDA commissioner Martin a mackerry

that he said in a press release. He also said that knowing that

10% of people aged 65 and older have Alzheimer's disease, and

that by the year 2050

that number is expected to nearly triple, he's hopeful that

new medical products such as this one will. Help patients.

There's also been a recent UK breakthrough in testing for

Alzheimer's risk. Scientists at the University of Bath have

developed a three minute at home memory test called fastball, and

it uses a form of the electroencephalogram, an EEG to

record brain activity as a person watches a stream of

images, some of which are repeated. And the test is

designed to detect amnestic mild cognitive impairment. That's one

of the two types of MCI, and also regarded as a specific type

of memory issue that can indicate a higher risk of

developing the disease. Now, while it's not predictive of

Alzheimer's disease on its own, if validated in larger trials,

it could help identify patients most likely to benefit from new

treatments. Number five, this one's kind of interesting,

herpes and Alzheimer's disease, perhaps surprisingly, scientists

have discovered a link between herpes simplex virus, type one,

the virus that causes cold sores, and the development of

Alzheimer's disease. That virus often lies dormant and

undetected in the body's nervous system and can trigger the

aforementioned amyloid plaques, which is a hallmark of

Alzheimer's disease. In test cases involving over 344,000

older adults with Alzheimer's disease and controls without

Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that point four, 4% of

adults with Alzheimer's disease had also previously had the

herpes virus, which is also called the HSV one against a

point 24% of the control group. Now, while the percentages are

small, the percentage difference is actually significant, with an

80% increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease when HSV one

has been present. Notably, if the adult had received antiviral

treatment for their HSV one virus, the Alzheimer's were

disc, risk was then reduced by 17% the results place an even

greater emphasis on viewing the prevention of herpes viruses as

a public health priority, and this is stated by the study's

authors, the sixth breakthrough is that AI can predict

Alzheimer's okay. What's that? One about two studies, one in

the US and one in the UK, have demonstrated how artificial

intelligence, or AI, can successfully predict the onset

of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at the University of

California created a machine learning model that can predict

the disease up to seven years before any symptoms appear, the

machine was accurate up to 72% of the time reports the

Alzheimer's Research Association and also identified different

risk factors for men and women, such as cholesterol,

hypertension and vitamin D that insufficiently registered as

predictors of Alzheimer's in both genders. Osteoporosis was a

specific predictor for women, while erectile dysfunction and

an enlarged prostate were indicators of susceptibility for

men. Meanwhile, at the

University of Cambridge, another machine learning model is

capable of predicting the speed at which a person with mild

cognitive impairment will. Develop Alzheimer's disease and

which people are likely to remain stable, researchers found

81% accuracy in these findings, making it more precise in

current clinical diagnosis. And this says Professor Zoe Cortese,

has the potential to significantly improve patient

well being, showing us which people need closest care, while

removing the anxiety for those patients that they will predict

will remain stable. He was one of the study's senior authors.

He also tells us that at a time of intense pressure on health

care resources, this will also help remove the need for

unnecessary invasive and costly diagnostic tests. AI is also

helping those currently living with Alzheimer's disease and

related dementia, as this video shows, number seven is the

immune system to blame. Scientists are actually

exploring the possibility that Alzheimer's is at least partly

caused by the immune system trying but failing to fix damage

to the brain. Researchers at the University of Virginia School of

Medicine in the US discovered that an immune molecule called

sting is responsible for the plaques and tangles that

contribute to Alzheimer's disease, but by blocking that

molecule, mental decline is avoided, at least in the case of

lab mice. What's more, the discovery could be key to

stopping cognitive decline in other neurodegenerative diseases

as well, such as motor neuron disease and Parkinson's disease,

According to these researchers, why it's while it's still very

early for this intervention, the potential is now there for

future treatments that target this particular module. And then

the last one is how implants could help future solutions

include implants in the brain to correct faulty signals in brain,

one of the World Economic Forum's 2025 technology pioneers

has developed an ultra thin graphene implant that can detect

neural signals and also send out electrical pulses to stimulate a

targeted response. It's initially being used. You might

have heard of it. It was actually on 60 minutes to help

people with Parkinson's disease. But once it was established in

this field, or once it becomes established in this field. The

plan is to develop it further for conditions including

Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. Advances in

Alzheimer's and dementia research as the nation's

biomedical research agency NIH, the National Institute of Health

supports research ranging from basic biology to drug

development and from clinical studies to evaluating public

health outcomes. Within the past several decades, researchers

have made great strides towards better understanding what causes

Alzheimer's and related dementia and discovering approaches that

may prevent diagnose and treat them. Some highlights of these

efforts include drug discovery and drug repurposing, thanks to

the substantial investment in Alzheimer's and related dementia

research over the past decade, NIH has increased drug discovery

significantly, and of the many compounds in NIH supported drug

development programs for Alzheimer's and dementia,

18 new dementia drug candidates have now matured through the

pipeline, yay, from discovery in the lab all the way through pre

clinical development to reach the stage of human. In testing,

NIH currently supports more than 60 clinical trial testing drug

candidates that target many different aspects of these

diseases. Several of these drug candidates are intended to stop

or slow the disease process, rather than only treat the

symptoms. For example, some target amyloid plaques like

lecanemab and bananamab and plaques and tau tangles in new

ways, but researchers are also exploring multiple ways to

repurpose drugs for the potential treatment of dementia,

including FDA approved drugs used to treat epilepsy and

diabetes, early detection and diagnosis. In that category,

researchers have made significant progress in

developing testing and validating biomarkers that

detect signs of the disease process, for example, in

addition to PET scans that detect abnormal beta amyloid

plaques and tau tangles in the brain, NIH supported Scientists

have developed the first commercial blood test for

Alzheimer's, this test and others that are in development

can not only help support diagnosis, but also be used to

screen volunteers for other research studies. Other

discoveries are leading to the development of potential

biomarkers for other brain diseases that cause dementia

too. These include the detection of abnormal TDP, 43 protein

found in Frontotemporal dementia, and a cerebrospinal

fluid test to help diagnose Lewy body dementia and Parkinson's

disease, and then researchers are also studying behavioral and

social indicators, including problems with paying bills and A

combined combined decline in memory and walking speed that

may be early signs of these diseases. Other early markers

are also under study, like risk factors, genetics and disease

pathways. NIH is research investments to identify the

biological mechanisms that lead to Alzheimer's and dementia are

fundamental for the discovery of potential drugs that target

them. There are many biological pathways that scientists can

target with investigational drugs. For example, several

recent studies have further revealed how components of our

immune system, brain inflammation, vascular disease,

and possibly viruses and bacteria, including the many

tiny organisms that live in The digestive system known as gut

microbiome, contribute to the development of these diseases.

They're also exploring genetic variations that may contribute

to or prevent disease. Recent research has revealed that the

genetic risk for Alzheimer's differs between ethnic and

racial groups, highlighting the need for more diversity. In

genetic research studies, they're also discovering genetic

variants that may help protect against Alzheimer's. Other

studies are identifying the genetic underpinnings of related

dementia, including new gene variants linked to the

development of Lewy body dementia. Population Studies and

precision medicine by studying large, diverse groups of people,

researchers are identifying which genes, behaviors and

lifestyle choices are linked with dementia. These studies

have shown that sedentary behavior, low socio economic

status, low level of education and living in a poor

neighborhood may increase our risk of developing dementia. Now

these observational

discoveries, along with knowledge of genetic and other

factors, can be used to advance the development and treatment in

an individualized level health disparities in dementia risk,

NIH funded research. Are examining the biological, social

and environmental factors that do contribute to the higher

prevalence of dementia in Hispanic Americans, which we

know black Americans, compared with other white Americans.

Since dementia is also under diagnosed in these populations.

Researchers are studying approaches to improve diagnoses

in underserved communities. NIH is also investing in strategies

to increase diversity in research study participants now

pertaining to lifestyle interventions, researchers are

investigating interventions around exercise, healthy eating,

cognitive training, preventive health care and management of

chronic conditions such as high blood pressure that if made

early in life, may be able to prevent or delay disease

symptoms. We've been talking about this for a long time.

Emerging areas of study include interventions to enhance

cognitive reserve, which is the mind's ability to cope with the

effects of aging and interventions to potentially

compensate for premature cognitive decline in dementia

linked to adverse exposures in early life, such as abuse or

malnutrition. NIH currently supports more than 150 trials

testing behavioral and lifestyle interventions. So wow, that is a

lot to take in, but these are all the most current

breakthroughs just in the last year that science has uncovered

to helpfully work towards better life and a treatment and or a

cure for living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. So

that concludes today's episode for the truth, lies and

Alzheimer's show. I'm Lisa Skinner, your host, and as

always, I will be back next week with another brand new episode

for you. So in the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful rest

of your week. Stay happy and healthy, and I will look forward

to having you back next week. Bye for now.